Mikey's World
by Livi-Love
Summary: Sequel to It's Within Us All. Mikey's world gets turned upside down! Leo's brooding, Raph's drinking and Don's chasing after an old friend. Can Mikey help his brothers when he has his own problems?
1. The Rift

**Hi and welcome to my second main TMNT fanfiction, sequel to It's Within Us All. It's set a week or so after IWUA. I decided to try to write the first chapter in first person, to see how it turned out. I didn't like it too much, so the rest is in third person. :/ Yeah... I can't be bothered to rewrite this chapter in third person. By the way, in case you can't figure it out (but you're readng a TMNT fanfiction, meaning you are smart), it's in Donatello's POV. ENJOY! :D**

**EDIT: THIS SITE REMOVED ALL THE ASTERISKS (THE LITTLE STARS) FROM FANFICTIONS (OR AT LEAST MINE) SO IF THERE ARE ANY WEIRD TIME/SETTING JUMPS, IT'S BECAUSE THEY WERE REMOVED. SO PLEASE, USE YOUR COMMON SENSE BECAUSE I AM NOT SCANNING THIS FANFICTION FOR WHERE THEY SHOULD BE AND ADDING THEM.**

**THANK YOU.**

**PS While I'm here, may I add that my writing improves drastically at a later point. So please, don't base me on what you read here. This was written LONG before I posted it here.  
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I leaned across my desk, keeping my hand steady. One false move and I would have wasted the day doing absolutely nothing. If I applied too much pressure, the appliance would fail and it would be even more awkward to repair. I pushed my tongue against the inside of my cheek as I replaced the fuse, not daring to breathe. After approximately six seconds, I lowered my hand and wiped my sweaty brow. I leaned back on my chair, breathing out slowly.

It was fixed.

"Dude." Mikey rested his hands on my shoulders, leaning over me to see what I was doing. "You spent all day fixing the kettle's plug?"

"Someone needs to fix it, and I'm the handyturtle around here," I explained to him, gently prising his hands off me. "Do you know how annoying it is, not having a working kettle? Anyway, do you have anything else to do, other than bug me? I have other stuff that needs doing…"

I mean, I couldn't get anything done if I kept being interrupted. He had been flitting in and out of my lab as he pleased for the past week or so.

"You and your babies," Mikey mumbled, most likely referring to my empty cups of coffee, which stood at one end of my desk. He rolled his eyes, grinning. "You live off that stuff, bro. It can't be good for you."

"I don't live off it. It's just my preferred drink," I snapped, getting annoyed. If it wasn't Mikey commenting on my taste for coffee, then it was Master Splinter or April. I stood up, realizing I wasn't going to get any work done. "I'm going to see what's on TV."

"Actually," Mikey said, "April wants to tell us something. She says it's important. That's why I came here in the first place."

Typical Mikey, coming into my workplace and forgetting why he was there in the first place until the last minute. I rolled my eyes at him playfully, receiving a goofy smile in response.

"Mike, I'm sorry if I'm snappy," I told him suddenly, having briefly gone over our recent conversation. "It's just..."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I get ya."

I followed Mikey out of my lab, wondering what April could want. I could see her as I went through my door, perched on the arm of one of the sofas, chewing on her lip nervously. She was looking at her fingers, which were interlinked with one another. Raph sat next to her, looking bored. "Come on, April. The Crusher is wrestlin' the Detonator in a minute."

"I need to tell you guys something." April gazed at me. "Where's Leo?"

"In his room," Mikey answered for me, sitting down next to Raph. "Sensei says not to bother him."

"Oh," April sighed, looking more worried than before.

She had the right to be anxious about his behaviour- we all were. Ever since we had returned from the warehouse, and our battle with what we called the 'Darkness', Leo had remained in his room, rarely coming out. Soon after I had stitched up his wound from where he had stabbed himself, he had woken up and had taken to staying in his room.

At first, we had tried to coax him out; Mikey had even offered to join him on his morning runs, but Leo still didn't come out. Mikey was quite relieved at this. After a week or so, we got used to it and left Leo to do whatever he was doing. Even Sensei, who had been extremely concerned about Leonardo and had made many attempts to talk to him, admitted that he would come out when he wanted to. I was near certain that Leo did indeed leave his room; however, he did it very discreetly. Anyway, we were all far too busy to take too much notice, as we were all recovering from the battle and had our own lives to fret about.

"Well." Mikey raised his brow, his eyes drifting away from April and towards the kitchen. "What do you need to tell us?" His stomach rumbled, putting a goofy smile onto his face. "My stomach is hungry and it can't eat by itself."

"Okay." April tore her eyes away from Leo's closed door and faced the three of us. "Me and Casey are going on holiday, and we won't be back for a few weeks."

"That's important?" Raph asked her, annoyed. "That's more important than watchin' the wrestlin' match of the century? You and Case are_ goin'_ somewhere?"

"Where are you two off to?" I asked April, throwing Raph an irritated look. Sometimes, I wondered whether he thought of anyone except himself. I knew he cared about us, deep down, but sometimes I wished he'd show it more.

"England," April replied. "They have so many sights and wonders there. London will be an absolute blast! But that's not really why I'm here." She avoided our eyes, choosing to look at her hands, which were now clenched into fists. "Betty is out of hospital."

"Really?" I smiled. Betty Arnold was a dear friend of ours, who we had met a couple of weeks ago when we had been investigating the New York Murders. She was an intelligent woman who had been of great help to us. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Mikey was looking at me, snickering, but I was too happy to be annoyed with him. Raph was trying to look as though he didn't care, but I knew he was grateful. He was the one who had got her put into hospital in the first place, and for that I hadn't totally forgiven him. "How is she?"

"Fine, but…" My blood ran cold as I waited for her to answer. I didn't like the way she said 'but'. "She… said it was best that we didn't have contact with her. She said that she thought she was ripping your family apart and…"

"She wasn't ripping our family apart," I said, bewildered.

"And she said that we were better of without her," finished April, ignoring my last comment.

"What does she… better off without her?" For once, I didn't understand. Whatever made her think we didn't deserve her? I blinked a few times, sitting down in a nearby armchair. I could guess why she left. Raph had stabbed her, and even though it was by accident, it had frightened her away from our family. She was worried Raph would lose his temper again and hurt her. Mikey had stopped laughing and looked nearly as upset as I was. Raph's facial expression did not change, which told me that he was purposely trying to look like he couldn't care less.

"Don." Raph reached a hand towards me after a minute of stunned silence, some emotion now showing on his face. "I'm sorry."

"What?" I glared at him. "Why the shell are you apologizing to me? Though I admit, it is nice you are admitting that you are to blame for once."

"I was tryin' to be understandin'," Raph growled, after looking very surprised. "Ya did have a thing for her, ya know."

"I did not," I said angrily. Usually, I kept level-headed, but Raph was really getting to me for once. Betty had been a really good friend and his usual hotheadedness had led to me losing her. Raph started to say something, but he stopped when Angel walked into our lair, her satchel hanging by her side. Raph turned away from me, his face relaxing considerably.

"Yo Angel." Raph nodded at her. "How are ya?"

"I'm good." Angel opened her satchel and began searching through it for something. "Where did I put it…?"

"Do you require any assistance, madam?" asked Mikey, bowing to her. He went over to her, positioning himself next to her.

"Nah." Angel pulled out a large rectangular card, before smoothing it out slightly. "Is Leo in, or is he still being all emo in his room?"

"Emo?" April frowned. "Who said he was…" She glared at Mikey, who suddenly became interested in one of the lair's walls. April sighed, "I mean, Leo's in his room, and Master Splinter…"

"Yes Angel?" a voice asked from behind me. I twisted my body around and saw Leo was standing outside his bedroom's door, looking extremely tired. I nearly fell off my armchair in surprise. I hadn't seen him for at least a week, and there he was… er… being seen.

"Oh." Angel seemed taken aback, most likely because she had not expected Leo to leave his room. I hadn't, in any case. She gave him the card. "Betty sent this to me, and the note that came with it said to give this to you. It's a Get Well Soon card." Leo held it up to the light, examining it. It was a plain white card with a little cartoon cat with a bandage on its head on the front. Leo read what was inside of it before closing it.

"It's very nice," Leo remarked, smiling slightly. "I take it Betty doesn't want me to send a thank you card back?"

"She doesn't want to keep contact," April said quietly.

Leo nodded before returning to his room. Just before he closed his door properly, Mikey said, "I'm sorry, bro."

I stared at the two of them, puzzled. Leo shook his head slightly, closing his door. I tore my gaze off his door and turned back to Angel. Mikey was trying to steal her shoulder bag, and Angel kept moving it out of his reach, giggling.

Raph got up so he could slap Mikey's head. "Quit makin' yerself look stupider than usual, shell head."

"But whatever I do will always look intelligent when compared to you," teased Mikey. Angel clasped a hand to her mouth, stifling her laughter. Raph, who can rarely take a joke, began chasing him around the room, threatening to kill him. I could see Master Splinter watching from the entrance of the meditation room, a hand resting on his forehead. It was pretty embarrassing when those two acted up, especially when we had visitors.

"Well, I'll leave you two to kill each other," Angel said, closing her satchel and making for the door. She stopped, seeing that Leo was blocking the entrance. I stared at him before looking back at his door. How did he get there without us noticing? I concluded that it was an upside to training and meditating for hours on end.

"Angel," Leo pressed an envelope into her hands, "I need you to post this. But I would be grateful if you didn't read who it was addressed to."

"What? Oh." Leo was already heading to his room. Angel nodded slowly. "Sure… I guess. Whatever you say." She put the envelope into her bag, and waved to us. "See you guys later."

"Bye Angel," I said, while April followed her out. "Bye April."

"Farewell, the both of you." Sensei smiled from where he was standing. "I hope you enjoy your holiday, Ms O'Neil."

Mikey blinked at him, and Raph skidded to a stop. "Dude… I mean, Master Splinter, how long were you standing there for?"

"For long enough." Sensei walked into the room, his walking stick in his right hand. "I do wish that you two wouldn't argue when we have guests over. You are only embarrassing yourselves. A ninja must have pride in how he presents himself."

"But ninjas hide in the shadows,"Mikey whined, "so why should we have to take pride in what we look like?"

"Because you do not hide in the shadows all the time, Michelangelo," Sensei replied, coming to a stop in front of him. "The only times when you try to sink into the shadows is when you should be at your morning training session."

"But he ain't hidin' then," Raph commented. "That's too much work. He just stays in bed, sleepin' like a baby."

"Yeah, well..." Mikey's face reddened. I knew Mikey hated it when he was called a baby. "At least I don't spend all day drinking."

I widened my eyes. The fact didn't surprise me; it was Mikey saying it that did.

Sensei narrowed his eyes at Raphael. "I will discuss this with you later, my son. However, it is time for your afternoon training session. Come." Sensei walked away, and we began following him.

"Master Splinter," Mikey looked over his shoulder, "is… is Leo going to be there?"

We waited for him to answer. One of us asked Master Splinter this everyday, but we always got the same answer. Master paused, glancing at Leo's firmly closed door. After a minute of silence, Sensei said, "Not today, but Leonardo is welcome to join us."

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**One last thing. At one point, one of the characters pretend to be of the opposite sex.****  
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	2. The Lesson

**I'm in the task of rewriting this. I realize how nice my reviewers were and thank them.  


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**'BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-'

Michelangelo threw his pillow at the alarm clock, knocking it to the floor, and yawned. Splinter had told Donatello to make him an alarm clock. A very, very loud alarm clock. So he didn't try and sleep until noon, Sensei had said. So he didn't miss his morning training session again, Sensei had said. Mikey groaned, wondering why Sensei didn't just ask him to dig his grave and lie in it. Mikey forced himself to open one eye slightly so he could see what time it was. It was 6am, which Mikey thought was ridiculously early. In fact, Mikey decided it was so stupidly early that he wouldn't bother getting up, and he would instead try to go to sleep again.

Mikey closed his eyes, not bothering to prepare himself for the oncoming wave of sleep. He was so intent on falling asleep that he didn't notice a strange green gas escape from the remains of his broken alarm clock. A vile odor crept up his nose, setting the inside of his head on fire. Mikey jumped out of bed and let off his trademark scream, hopping from one foot to the other with great speed. He was practically choking because of the smell, which was coming from somewhere near his bed.

"Shut up!" he heard Raphael call from his room.

"It stinks nearly as bad as you in here!" Mikey retorted. He rolled across his bed and landed clumsily on the ground. Mikey peered forward, transferring his weight to his knees. Within the remains of his alarm clock was a stink bomb. Mikey covered his mouth, standing up and backing away. He stumbled when he backed into his bed, but he executed a neat flip and landed near the door leading outside of his room. Mikey bowed to an imaginary audience before leaving his bedroom.

Mikey passed his family's rooms quietly in an attempt to not wake them up. Raph had fallen asleep again: his snoring alerted Mikey of this. Leo's room was freakishly silent, so Mikey presumed that he was meditating, out or reading. He could have been sleeping, but he usually woke up at about that time.

Michelangelo stopped outside his remaining brother's room. He could hear Don breathing loudly in his sleep.

"Donnie!" Mikey banged on Don's door. Don had made Mikey an alarm clock, so it seemed fair that Mikey was Don's 'alarm clock'. "What did you put in that clock you made me? Essence of Raph? It absolutely reeks!"

"It was to wake you up. I knew you wouldn't get out of bed unless you were forced to," Don mumbled from what Mikey guessed was his bed. "It's early, Mike. I'm trying to sleep."

"So why'd it go off then?" Mikey asked him exasperatedly.

"Because."

"Because...?"

"That's right."

"What does that mean?"

"Sensei wants you up now for extra lessons or something," Donnie replied. Mikey started to complain, but Donnie had fallen asleep.

Giving up, Mikey decided that now he was awake he should find something worthwhile to do. There was a pizza that needed eating, a television that was most likely feeling neglected after a night of being all alone in the cold… the more Mikey thought about it, the more he was actually enjoying being up early. Raph wasn't there to spend ten years in the shower, and Don wasn't around to hog the TV. Mikey smiled. Only one thing could turn this situation into a bad one.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter approached Mikey, much to the turtle's displeasure, "it is nice to see that you have woken up in time for your morning tutoring. I hope this gets you out of your bad habits. Now, let us go into the meditation room."

Mikey followed reluctantly, his feet shuffling along the floor slowly. His bad habits? What about Raph's alcohol problem? Or Don's obsession with coffee? Or even Leo's craving for sugary foods? But no, Splinter had to be interested in _him._ Mikey crossed his arms. He let Splinter sit him down on the sofa, in front of the…

"TV!" Mikey grinned, looking at his master hopefully. "We're gonna watch TV? That sounds totally rad. There's this new show on TV called Guy Stories, and-"

"My son." Splinter put a pot of flowers in front of him. Mikey stared at them, all hopes of doing something fun thrown out of the window. A pot of flowers. That was never fun.

"What do you see?"

Mikey yawned. "A pot of flowers?"

"Yes, but what features does it have?"

"It's a pot with flowers inside of it."

Splinter counted to five silently before continuing calmly, "Can you give me any others?"

"It's some flowers inside a pot."

Splinter narrowed his eyes. "Michelangelo! You will not learn anything if you do not try. A ninja must be able to take note of his surroundings very carefully, and it is vital for you to do so as well. Now, I want you to look at it and then tell me what you see. Look at it closely, my son."

"Oh fine." Mikey pretended to concentrate. He squinted at it before declaring, "Outside the box… think outside the box… I know! It's a blue elephant!"

Splinter didn't see the joke. He sent Michelangelo to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, telling him that they would continue these lessons every morning until Mikey learnt his lesson. What the lesson actually was, Mikey wasn't too sure. He considered going to Leo and asking his opinion, because Leo always knew what their Sensei wanted and what he actually meant when he went into one of his boring, metaphorical speeches. But then Mikey remembered that Leo was in his room practically all the time, so he decided to bug Don about it later, as his brother could just about get the gist of what Splinter was saying.

"I'm their full-time chef," Mikey grumbled as he entered the kitchen, "and worst of all, I don't get paid a nickel."

However, in actual fact, he loved cooking. If he didn't become a superhero, a comic book writer or a video game tester, he planned on becoming a celebrity chef. When Mikey had shared this with his brothers, Raph had commented that that would be the day Donnie became cool. Don had added it would be the day Raph became competent. Then it'd grown into a full blown argument, which had become common with the two ever since they had discovered that Betty did not wish to keep contact with them. It seemed to Mikey that Don blamed Raph because of the whole 'stabbing her' thing, which sounded fair enough. However, Mikey secretly thought that Donnie should get over himself and move on. Of course, neither of them would take him seriously and they would tell him to stop being irritating.

Mikey got out his ingredients and laid them on the kitchen counter. Muesli for Splinter, cornflakes for Don and fried eggs for Raph. Raphael preferred to have a full blown cooked meal for breakfast (as that is how a real turtle starts the day, apparently), but Mikey really couldn't be bothered to make a lot of effort. He reached for the bread so he could make some toast, before realizing that Leo was most likely not going to join them for breakfast. Mikey sighed sadly. Leo hadn't eaten with them in for what seemed like years, though it was only a handful of weeks.

Mikey decided to make some toast anyway, because he knew that his other brothers would want some.

TMNTNMT

"Ya burnt the toast!" Raph told Mikey loudly, dropping it onto his plate and spluttering. Mikey picked it up and examined it, puzzled. The toast was a bit brown, but wasn't toast meant to be like that? Raph punched the table. "Ya don't burn toast unless you're a moron, shell for brains. Oh wait."

"Then what you wanted was bread," Don told him coolly, sipping his coffee.

"I know what I wanted more than you do," Raph growled in response, glaring at his brother angrily.

"I wasn't under that impression," Don replied, putting down his cup of coffee furiously. Mikey jumped back, expecting the china to smash into tiny pieces because of the force Don had used. However, to his relief, the cup remained intact.

"Enough!" exclaimed Splinter. The sharpness of his tone made everyone eat in total silence, only opening their mouths so they could transfer some food into it. Splinter took a mouthful of his breakfast before coughing. "M-Michelangelo!"

"Yes Sensei?" Mikey looked at him, wondering what he had done wrong now.

Splinter sipped his green tea before gasping, "You burnt the muesli."

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**It's 3rd person, but it's Mikey's take of things. So some things might seem exaggerated. ;D**


	3. The Sacrifice

**These early chapters seem so short. -.-

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**"Movie, movie, movie!" Mikey jumped onto the sofa, narrowly avoiding landing on Raphael. Movie night was one of Mikey's favourite nights, behind nights spent eating pizza and beating Raph at Mario Kart. Don was sitting on their other sofa, gazing intently into blank space. Mikey paused, wondering what his brother was thinking about. There was a wide range of topics that Donatello could be thinking about and most of them were far too complicated for the youngest turtle to understand. Raph muttered darkly about Michelangelo under his breath, and how he was stupid and immature like a three year old.

"Actually..." Mikey slipped from the sofa and onto the floor. "There isn't room for little old me AND Raph's big butt."

He hopped over to Don before settling himself next to him.

"Shell for brains," Raph muttered. He looked both ways and got out a can. After checking again in case Splinter was in the area, he opened it. The can hissed like a snake as Raph slowly lifted the stay-tab. Raphael closed his eyes and breathed in its aroma, inhaling deeply. Don curled the ends of his frowning mouth upwards, mentally comparing his brother to a Twilight-fan who was imagining themselves in a love scene with Edward Cullen.

"What movie are we going to watch?" Don asked, leaning back slightly. Mikey jumped off the sofa and sprang towards their DVD collection, which stood beside their wide screen television. He landed on his feet, taking a step forwards to balance himself. Mikey knelt onto the ground and began searching through the large array of discs, searching for one that he wanted to watch. After finding his favourite DVD, he inserted it into the player and settled himself next to Donatello.

"_Is it a lizard… is it a frog… no! It's the Turtle Titan!_" The television boomed, a cartoon version of said superhero flying through the skies that hovered above New York City.

"What the shell?" Raph rubbed his eyes. "What's that meant to be?"

"_Who keeps the streets clean of New York scum? The Turtle Titan! Who kicks butt and then some? The Turtle Titan!_" the voice from the television sang as loud music erupted from the speakers. Mikey beamed, the music just as epic as it was yesterday. Raph sat in shock, unable to believe his eyes. Don was covering his mouth, refusing to let the laughs coming from deep inside of him escape. "_Who watches over us as we sleep at night? The Turtle Titan! Who saves the day and always does what's right? The Turtle Tiiiiitan!_ "

"They… made a cartoon about you?" Raph shook his head, a dazed expression on his face. "Who would make a TV show about you?"

"A genius." said Mikey simply. He hadn't known about the TV show until yesterday, when he had seen it advertised during a commercial break. "It looks like people have finally realized what I do for New York and have made a show about me to show their appreciation."

"We'd appreciate it if you got us some snacks," Don said, smirking, "and then some. I'd like some popcorn and a cup of black coffee, please."

"Okay, okay," Mikey mumbled. "I know you're jealous."

He walked to the kitchen, hearing the sound of a DVD being taken out of the DVD player, and the dull click of its case being opened, most likely so it could be put back. Mikey entered the kitchen and noticed that the floor was wet. He could hear a faint humming sound coming from the training room, which he recognized as a vacuum cleaner. He concluded that it was his sensei tidying, and that he shouldn't be freaked out by it.

"Chill, Mike," he scolded himself as he rooted around for the necessary ingredients before preparing the refreshments. Soon, the kitchen was full of the sound of corn popping and the smell of coffee.

Mikey picked up all the snacks in his hands, figuring he would be able to make only one trip.

Alas, he forgot that the ground was wet and stumbled across the floor, slipping one way and then sliding the other way. Mikey yelled out as he lurched forwards, his face smashing into the ground. The food and drinks he had prepared rolled across the floor, shattering or falling apart as they did so. Michelangelo was only dimly aware of his brothers picking him up. Raphael was brushing the broken china off his face, while Donnie put Mikey's arm over his shoulder so he could support him.

"Geez, Mike, we only asked you to get us some snacks…" Don eyed the mess. "Sensei just cleaned that floor and you decided to do some modern art on it. Not a wise move, bro."

"Don!" Raph glared at him, "He nearly killed himself, and ya just worried he stained the floor or somethin'?"

"I'm trying to lighten the mood," Don snapped as he and Mikey walked into the living room, where Splinter stood waiting for them. He had a look of concern on his face and as soon as he caught sight of them, he rushed over as fast he as could. Splinter aided Don and Raph in lying Mike on the sofa. The TV was off now, and the only sound was Splinter's reassuring words.

"You're fine; you are just suffering from mild shock." Splinter patted his youngest son's head. "Donatello says that you have not injured yourself a lot, but you may be a bit bruised. I should have alerted you that the kitchen floor was wet; however, my mind isn't as young as it used to be. But next time, I hope that you are more patient and remember to make multiple trips, as opposed to just one. It is important that you take time to do things so you do not rush them."

Mikey nodded. He had fallen over and injured himself, yet his sensei still felt the need to lecture him. Mikey closed his eyes slightly, refraining himself from yawning. If he was honest, he felt perfectly fine; he just enjoyed getting so much attention that it seemed a shame to waste the moment. Raphael looked as though Mikey was lying on his deathbed. Mikey closed his eyes completely and whispered, "I… I need something to… to sooth my throat."

"What's the matter with your throat?" Don asked him.

"It burns…" Mikey groaned, covering his mouth with his hand in a poor attempt to stifle his laughter. "I need… something cool… like… like…"

"Like what bro?" Raph grabbed hold of his hand tightly, shaking it. "What do ya need? Just say the word and I'll get it for you."

"I need… to… know why you fall for that every time." Mikey sat up, grinning madly. Raphael let go of his hand immediately, as though Mikey had suddenly set alight. Mikey cackled, rocking back and forth slightly as he did so. "Dude, I don't get why you get all mushy each time."

Mikey knew that Raph worried about each of them and that he needed each of them just as much as they all needed him. They required Donatello's knowledge of machinery, Michelangelo's joyous mood, Leonardo's level-headedness and Raphael's straightforward thinking. But Mikey wanted to see Raph squirm as he tried to think of something to reply with that didn't sound caring or corny.

"Moron." Raph hit Mikey on the head, nearly sending him to the floor. "I just wanted ta play along so I could… uh…"

Don watched him, a small smile on his face. Mikey bet Don could think of a billion possible reasons, but he enjoyed observing his brother in this uncomfortable position just as much as Mikey did.

"... Lull ya into a false sense of security," Raph finished, relieved he had come up with a suitable answer. "And I didn't want Don and Splinter ta do stuff for ya 'cos they feel sorry for you. I can tell if ya fakin' a mile away, bro."

"Whatever you say, Raphael," Splinter sighed under his breath, the presence of a smile barely visible on his serious face. Splinter bowed his head slightly at Michelangelo. "Seeing as you have made a complete recovery, my son, you can go to the kitchen and clean up the mess you made."

"Why me?" Mikey asked. He had been carrying an awful lot of snacks and disposing food that he should have been eating… well! Mikey wasn't sure if he could manage it. He looked at Don, a sad expression on his face, hoping that his puppy dog eyes would be enough to melt the heart of his inventor brother.

"Sorry bro." Don picked up a half empty mug of coffee before heading towards his laptop on the far side of the room. "I have stuff that I want to do and in any case, why should I clean up your mess?"

Mikey turned to Raphael, before putting an arm around his shoulders. "You know I was just playing with you earlier, right? Man, did we fool Don and Sensei! We make a great pair- we're just like Bill and Ben, or Beauty and the Beast. Though I'm the beautiful one and you're the ugly one."

"At least I'm not the one who's gonna spend ages tidyin' the kitchen by themselves." Raph got out his shellcell. "I'm gonna see if Angel wants to go-"

"You are grounded, Raphael," Splinter reminded him, "or do you not remember your accident involving Ms Arnold?"

"Whatever," grumbled Raphael, walking to his room angrily. He slammed his door shut, his presence remaining long after he had settled himself in his hammock, talking to Angel as he flicked through a motorcycle magazine. Splinter shook his head at where his red masked son had just been standing before entering the training room. Michelangelo, seeing that he was defeated, reluctantly went to the kitchen, barely wanting to believe that his evening had been planned out for him.

Mikey nearly had a heart attack when he stepped into the room. Its floor was no longer decorated with junk food but was half clean. His eyes wandered from the roughly wiped ground to the tips of a broom, which was sweeping at the larger pieces of food, its bristles trapping the smaller lumps of mess as it moved swiftly across the smooth flooring. Michelangelo lifted his head slowly, his eyes falling upon the creature that was cleaning the mess. Mikey did a double take, unsure whether he was seeing things.

"Leo? Are you cleaning up after me?" Mikey rubbed his eyes, refusing to believe what he was seeing. Leonardo never cleaned up after him, always saying that he should do it himself and he wasn't the youngest turtle's slave (to which Mikey would sometimes beg to differ). Mikey shook his head in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because it gives me something useful to do," Leo replied, lifting the broom and shaking it over the empty bin. He closed the door to the kitchen, blocking out Mikey's voice from the rest of their family. "It gives me something productive to do." He leaned the broom against one of the walls, leaving the room. Mikey stared at the space where his brother had been standing, completely confused. It was as though Leo had transformed the night after their recent battle and had replaced his bossy confident personality with a meek one. Mikey didn't know whether this was a good thing or not, but when he realized that this meant he didn't have to tidy the kitchen he decided not to complain. Leo returned, without Mikey noticing his disappearance, tugging a vacuum cleaner at his wake. Snapping back into reality, Mikey aided his brother.

"What," Mikey panted, the piece of machinery much heavier than he remembered, "do you mean by 'gives me something useful to do'? You've always got something to do. You always like, have jobs for us, and boring training runs..."

Well, Leo probably did other stuff, but Mikey decided that now was not the best time to remind Leo how boring he was.

"Nothing, I meant nothing by it." Leo reached to turn the vacuum cleaner on, but Mikey caught his wrist. The two brothers watched at each other, waiting for the other to move. Leo averted his gaze after an awkward silence. "What do you want?"

"I want you to tell me what's up." Mikey tilted his head to one side. "You stay in your room all day, and you haven't been to any of Master Splinter's lessons. Something's up, 'cos I know you love showing us up. Why are you avoiding us?"

Mikey thought Leo would deny avoiding them, but to his surprise his brother muttered, "I have my reasons, now let me go, Mike. I just want to go to my room."

"Is that a challenge, Leo?" Mikey raised his brow, his grip still as tight as before. Michelangelo was sure that he wouldn't fare well in a fight against his eldest brother, but he was determined for Leonardo to open up. Last time, when Leo had bottled up his emotions after their final duel with the Shredder, it had ended with Leonardo nearly killing his master. Mikey didn't want this to happen again, and now that the chance had presented itself to him, he was willing to grab it. "You and me, right here right now?" Mikey let go of Leo and spat on his hands, which he then rubbed together. Mikey began hopping from one foot to the other, his fists in front of him. Hopefully, Leo would see that Mikey didn't mean a serious fight, but more of a friendly one… if they existed, in any case.

"You? Fight me?" Leo got into a fighting stance. "I beat you in every sparring match we have, Mike. You laze around and eat cheesy puffs all day, while I train and meditate for all of us. I work myself to death while you three do whatever you want. Now get out of my way. I'm warning you bro."

"Don't take me lightly." Mikey copied the position Leo was standing in, his body trembling lightly. "I… I can do this."

"You're just like Raph at times," Leo snarled, "when you run out of words to say, you choose to resort to your fists."

Mikey didn't answer but remained where he was. He hoped that although he didn't train as much as Leo, he had enough natural talent to keep fighting until he found out what was the matter with his brother.


	4. The Smile

**Woot, another chapter. Isn't it nice to read new chapters? Heh heh, I know you want to get back to the action and see how Leo and Mikey are doing. I'm just building tension by making you read this... okay, I'll stop.

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**

"What's the matter Leo?" Mikey asked, catching his brother's fist. He stumbled backwards slightly, trying to keep his balance. Although his eldest brother didn't look it, he was pretty powerful. Mikey leaned forward, pushing Leo's fist away from him. He grabbed his brother's hands and tried to throw him to the ground, but Leo countered it and Mikey found himself on the floor. Leo waited for Mikey to get to his feet before approaching him once more. Michelangelo felt near-perfect as it seemed that Leo hadn't put too much effort into that throw, in case he hurt his younger brother. Or, Leo wasn't up to his usual standard from having been shut up in his room for so long.

"Nothing's wrong," Leo replied angrily. He averted his gaze. "I just want to be by myself, that's all."

"We can tell that," Mikey retorted, kicking out at him. Leo tried to jump out of the way; however, Michelangelo managed to grab hold of his leg and pull him to the ground. The two fell onto the floor, and Mikey got to his feet first. "Come on, Leo. You can do better than that. I'm beating you."

"No..." Leonardo stood up, shaking slightly. "I have to... I can't fail…" Leo threw a punch at Mikey, making the orange masked turtle fly backwards. Mikey's head hit the wall painfully, but he decided to ignore the thumping in his head. Leo raised his hands and stared at them, horrified, before running over to his brother. "I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't hurt you... argh, I can't do anything right. Suppose I injured you badly?"

"But you didn't, bro, so don't get all worked up about it. And come on! Nobody's perfect, and nobody does everything right. Everyone has to be defeated sometimes. That's what makes us like, stronger. That's what Sensei says, anyway." Mikey reached out a hand to his brother. "But we can call it a tie, if you want."

Leo hesitated before shaking his brother's hand. "Okay, it's a draw. But only because I really don't want to fight you."

"Yeah, same with me," Mikey shrugged, "but I don't want you to go back to your room and be all moody without opening up to me first. I just…" Mikey would never say this to Raphael, but he knew that Leonardo would take him seriously. "I'm worried about you, Leo. Remember when you went all moody and hurt Sensei? I don't want that to happen again."

"Oh." Leo clenched his left fist and used his other hand to point at him. "So you're worried I'm going to hurt one of you, is that it? You're worried I'm going to lose it and try to kill you. You aren't concerned about any of my emotions except the ones that could hurt someone!"

"No!" Mikey held up his hands, shaking his head furiously. Well, yes he was slightly worried that Leo would become a bloodthirsty psychopathic emo, but that wasn't his main reason. "I didn't mean that! When you stabbed Master Splinter, you looked upset. You'd been all grumpy and… well… Raph-like, until then. Then… you got really sad. I don't want you to have to go through all that again. And you need to relax and stop attacking everything I say. I just want to help. That's all."

They stared at each other. Mikey examined his brother's expression closely. He was frowning, which meant he wasn't happy. A voice in Mikey's head congratulated him on his finding sarcastically. Mikey studied him carefully, taking a few steps forward so he had a better view of his brother's face. There was definitely sadness in his eyes... sort of like… regret? Guilt? Mikey wasn't too sure what it was, but something was mixed in with the gloom in Leo's eyes.

"Mikey!" Leo pushed Michelangelo away from him, who had been practically up against his face. "You don't have to look at me like that. Haven't you heard of breathing space? I need some, and there's enough air for you to breathe without intruding on mine."

"Please…" Mikey put on his begging face, which worked nine out of ten times. He clasped his hands together, placing them in front of his chest. If reasoning and fighting didn't work, then he had only one choice- pleading with him. "Do it for me, your youngest brother in the whole world."

"No."

"Okay then," Mikey rested his hand against his chin thoughtfully. Maybe he did have some other tactics he could use. "I'll give you twenty dollars if you open up to me."

He knew this was a serious matter, but if he pretended it wasn't then maybe Leo would think so too, and tell him what was bothering him. And in any case, Mikey was enjoying this quite a lot. It was a sort of test; a test that was both important and testing of his intelligence… also, best of all, it wasn't boring.

"No."

Mikey held up his fingers, counting all his options. Fighting didn't work out too well, as the bruise on his arm told him with its dull continuous pain. Leo wasn't listening to Mikey's reasoning as to why it for was the best, because he didn't believe it was. Begging definitely didn't work. And bribery had failed, most likely because Leo doubted Mikey had that much money. He gulped, seeing that he only had two fingers left.

"Leo, why don't you want to tell us?" Mikey asked him. "I get that we don't understand what it was like with the octopus thing in you, but we won't get it if you don't like, tell us. You think that only you understand and if you don't open up, it'll stay that way. Come on, bro. You're too used to taking what we want into consideration and with pleasing everyone. You gotta… you have to think outside the box, dude. You have to open up your view of the world. You shouldn't have to try and mould yourself into the perfect creature. Nobody's perfect."

"Did you hear that in some bad cartoon?" Leo asked him, without thinking about what Mikey had said in too much detail, "because that is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard."

A classic Raphael response. Great.

"Oh come on," Mikey whined. "I'm trying, but you're really pushing me to my limits. You're being pretty awkward… more awkward than I am on a bad day. Like earlier, when you said you trained and meditated for all of us while we did whatever we wanted. I don't eat cheesy puffs _all_ the time. I eat other stuff, like pizza and ice cream."

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do so he was interrupted.

"Leonardo!" The two turtles turned to the doorway, where their master was standing. Leo turned away from him quickly, panic on his face. Mikey chuckled at him, having rarely seen his brother like this. It looked like his brother had been caught doing something naughty.

Splinter walked over to them, stopping in front of his eldest son. Leo reluctantly faced him so the two mutants were looking towards one another. Their sensei bowed, his tail moving from one side of him to the other as he did so. Out of habit, Leonardo repeated the gesture. "How pleasant it is to see you again. I checked to see if you were in your room, and I was surprised to see that you were somewhere else."

"You went into my room?" Leo gasped, before recovering. Mikey narrowed his eyes, curious to know why his brother sounded so worried. "Why, did you want to see me Master?"

Mikey could mentally hear him add 'If so, did you find anything that you would disapprove of?' What would Leo have to hide in his room? Maybe he kept all those magazines he confiscated from Raph? Leo did say that it was so Raphael wouldn't get in trouble with Master Splinter and that he should be grateful, but still… or maybe he had dozens of pieces of candy in his room? Mikey knew Leonardo had a sweet tooth, just like Don had a craving for coffee. Mikey let his mind wonder about all the possibilities for a few seconds, but when he heard his master resume the conversation, he snapped out of his trance.

"Do not worry, my son. I knocked, but I heard your voice so I went here instead. Angel is paying us a visit, and she brought this with her," Splinter explained, handing Leonardo an envelope. Mikey widened his eyes in disbelief. He had thought that the letter from yesterday was a one off, but now he had gotten another one. And judging by the unrecognizable handwriting on the front, it was from the same person as last time. "She says that this is for you, Leonardo."

"Is she still here?" Mikey asked, in hope of seeing his friend again. He had seen her yesterday, when she had come with the card from Betty, but that had been ages ago and he was sick of his brothers' company. He found it unfair that Splinter had prevented any of them from leaving the lair because they needed to 'rest' and 'recover' from their last battle. It wasn't as though they were particularly injured.

"Yes, she is talking to Raphael," Splinter answered, which caused Mikey to frown in disappointment. If he went to go see her, he knew Raph would make him look stupid in front of her. Of course, Mikey did the same to Raph, but he didn't want to risk how cool he looked in front of Angel- even if it meant missing out on poking fun at his brother. Mikey didn't know why it bothered him so much, because usually he didn't care how other people saw him. Splinter continued, "However, soon it will be time for the four of you to go to bed. You will wake up in time for your morning tutoring and then Donatello and Raphael will join you in your morning sparring lesson." He turned away, leaving the room.

"Wait, Sensei." Leo raised his hand in his master's direction. Splinter paused, looking over his shoulder at him. Leonardo glanced at Mikey, who gave his brother a reassuring nod. Leonardo looked at the envelope he was holding, a look of pure concentration on his face. Leo took a deep breath before facing his master once more.

_I'm worried, Leo. Remember when you went all moody and hurt Sensei? I don't want that to happen again._

_You think that only you understand and if you don't open up, it'll stay that way._

_You're too used to taking what we want into consideration and with pleasing everyone._

_I'll give you twenty dollars if you open up to me._

"I'll be in tomorrow's training session," Leo told his beaming master, smiling properly for the first time in weeks.


	5. The Argument

Mikey hit his alarm clock as soon as it began to ring. It slipped and fell towards the ground; however, Michelangelo caught it before it could smash into a dozen pieces. His room still smelt from the previous clock, and Mikey had wasted twenty cans of air freshener in a vain attempt to make his room not smell like rotten eggs. He mumbled to himself as he sat up and got off his bed. Mikey yawned, putting on his orange mask as he leaned over the side of his bed, retrieving his training gear from underneath it. He took his time getting ready for his lesson with Splinter, not in any rush to get there. Michelangelo departed from his room and entered the living room, where his rat master stood waiting for him.

"There you are, my son," Splinter greeted him, leading Mikey to the sofa in front of the television. In front of him was a pot that contained some flowers. Mikey frowned at them. He hoped he didn't have to study them like yesterday, as that had been one of the most pointless things he had ever done.

"Sensei, why do we have to use flowers?" he complained. "They're so girlish. And they're lame."

Why couldn't they use something cool, like a comic or a cartoon?

"They are very beautiful things and there is more to them that meets the eye," Splinter explained, fiddling with one of them. As he moved it, Mikey noticed that there was a lump missing from one of its petals. Mikey expressed this and received an approving nod from his master.

"Yes, Michelangelo," Splinter said, stepping away from the pot and standing next to his slouching son. "What an interesting discovery you have made. Now tell me, what do you think may have caused this?"

"Dunno." Mikey scratched his chin. "Maybe it's meant to be like that or something?"

"No..." Splinter shook his head. "It is damaged. There is a part of it missing and there is a reason for this. Think about it and the answer will come to you."

"You probably did it," Mikey mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"I mean, I think you took it off as part of the exercise."

Splinter narrowed his eyes. "Michelangelo, I want you-"

"Come on!" Mikey grinned at him. "Admit that it was you. I know it was, Sensei. You can't deny the truth. Though I don't think it was very nice of you to do that to the flower- ow!"

Splinter tapped him on the head with his walking stick, a look of disapproval on his face. Mikey rubbed his head, wincing.

"That will conclude today's lesson. Your brothers will be up soon and you shall make them breakfast. You cannot accuse people of things if you do not have any evidence. Innocent until proven guilty, my son."

Mikey rose from his seat, shuffling into the kitchen. When he was out of sight, Master Splinter knelt beside the pot of flowers, gazing at them intently. Was it really that obvious?

TMNTNMT

"Congratulations," Raphael smirked, "ya didn't burn our cereal this time."

"And you didn't cook the toast until it became ash," Donatello added. When Raph went to get himself a can of drink, Don leaned across the table and added quietly, "Not that it was last time. I think the toast was delicious yesterday, but it's improved considerably."

Mikey grinned modestly. It was nice that his brother was complimenting him on something he was proud of, and best of all it wasn't sarcastically. Don nodded at him happily, taking a drink from his mug, which Mikey observed was full of coffee.

"What is in that container, Raphael?" Splinter asked from the head of the table. The red masked turtle flinched, his hand tightly around the metal can.

"Nothin'…" he started, but Splinter was already out of his seat and with one quick movement he was holding it. He took one look at the can before rounding on Raph, his whiskers twitching angrily.

"What did I tell you, Raphael?" he asked loudly, shaking it with his right hand, while his other was down by his side. Raph didn't answer, his face slowly becoming the same shade as his mask. Splinter walked over to the sink before pouring its contents down the drain. Afterwards, he sat down and started eating his muesli. Splinter smiled at his youngest son. "Very good, Michelangelo. You have decided not to cook it this time."

Mikey grinned, tapping his chest proudly. "I'm a natural chef. What can I say?"

"Yer also a natural idiot," Raph remarked, sitting back down and stabbing his piece of bacon with his fork. He stuffed into his mouth before chewing loudly with his mouth open. Don and Splinter grimaced, looking from him to their food with a disgusted look on their faces. Mikey ate in a similar way to Raph, gulping down his orange juice when his mouth wasn't completely full. Don compared his two brothers before picking up his mug of coffee and his half empty bowl of cornflakes. Donatello dumped his half-eaten breakfast into the sink and then left the room.

"Donatello, don't forget you and your brothers will have your morning sparring session in one hour," Splinter called after him. Don nodded vaguely towards him, entering his room. Splinter gazed down at his muesli. He resumed his breakfast half-heartedly.

"I'm done," Mikey mumbled, spraying some of his toast across the tablecloth. "Oops." He grabbed a corner of the tablecloth and began wiping at his mess quickly. The table twitched, and Splinter's glass of green tea tipped towards the turtles' master. Splinter got to his feet, his robe dripping at the front. Mikey looked at his master sheepishly, clearing up the table before Splinter told him to as a punishment.

After the cutlery had been washed and put away, and all the boxes of cereal had been put back into the cupboards in which they had come from, Mikey shuffled into the training room and sat himself down beside Donatello. Raph sat a space away from Mikey, picking at a hole in the mat he was sitting on with his sai. Splinter stood in front of them, his eyes drifting over to the door. Don sighed quietly, leaning back slightly.

The door burst open, and Leonardo ran into the room, hurriedly gulping down his glass of water. He sat himself down between Mikey and Raph, bowing heavily. "I'm sorry I'm late, Master. I forgot about this morning's session." Mikey clapped. Leo always made the best entrances. "I haven't missed anything, have I? If I have, I promise that I will catch up."

"It's fine, Leonardo," Splinter assured him. "We have just started."

"Leo?" said Don, not sure if he was imagining him or not. "You're… here?"

"Ya finally decided dat we were worthy enough ta see ya face?" Raph asked him.

"Raphael!" Splinter snapped. The four turtles turned to their master, waiting for him to continue. Their master took in a deep breath, taking in the scene in front of him. His sons were together once more, and despite the fact that each most likely had something bothering them (not that Splinter could pinpoint what, exactly, but his fatherly senses were rarely incorrect), the fact that they were sitting in front of him, united as a family, prevented him from getting any words out for a moment. Clearing his throat, Splinter said, "I will put you into pairs and you will practice dodging."

"We know how to dodge," Mikey said. "I mean, it's basically dancing out of the way, right?"

"Mikey's right in the sense that we know how to dodge well," Don added. "I'm not sure if 'dancing out of the way' is the right phrase, though. Of course, we need to practice regularly so that we don't become lazy with our dodging, but…"

"Okay, Brainiac, we get the point." Raph waved his hand. "Ya don't have to go on and on."

"I wasn't going on and on," Donnie replied, ticked off. "I hardly got a word out before you rudely interrupted me. I suppose that your short attention span cannot keep up with what I am saying."

"Enough!" Splinter banged his walking stick against the ground. When the room returned to being silent, he sighed. "I do not know what has gotten into you two, but I wish for it to stop. You cannot continue this behaviour. I want you both to shake hands and apologize for whatever you have done to the other."

"What?"

"But Master…"

"I said apologize!" Splinter shouted. Don and Raph looked at him, stunned. Splinter rarely raised his voice as loud as that, and the way he was glaring at them told them that they did not have a choice in the matter. The pair reluctantly got to their feet, facing each other. "Now..." Their master closed his eyes. "I want you to forgive one another."

"You can't forgive just like that," said Leonardo quietly. His family turned to him at the sound of his voice.

"You can't," Splinter admitted, "but it is the first step, is it not? Coming to some form of understanding is the rebirth of a friendship, Leonardo."

"Not really," Leo replied, "because who knows if you actually understand someone? It could be all one big lie, so even though you think you are coming to an understanding, you're actually not. And what's a friendship if it's one great big lie?"

"Oh come on bro." Mikey nudged his brother. "You're saying that those two don't know what's up with the other? I think they like, know what's bothering each other. They have to have a reason to why they fell out, and I bet they know what it is."

"I guess…" said Leo, still looking uncertain. "But Sensei, don't actions speak louder than words?"

"Yeah," Mikey said, "Leo's right." Leo turned to his brother, confused. Mikey grinned. "You two should give each other a big hug!"

"I'll give ya a hug, ya moron!" shouted Raph, rounding on his younger brother. Michelangelo squeaked, hurrying to his feet and hiding behind Donatello. Don looked over his shoulder at Mikey, a sad look on his face. Mikey realized that Don must have felt sorry for him, but he didn't care that he looked like a coward. His brothers would maybe use it against him for a while, but it would be forgotten about soon enough. Don turned his head away from his brother so he could confront Raphael.

"Why do you have to bully him all the time?" Don asked Raph. "Why can't you just leave him alone? You used to pick on him before, but you're seriously taking it too far. What's the matter with you?"

"Yeah, what's your problem?" Mikey said, still standing behind Donatello.

"Oh, so somethin's wrong with me, huh?" Raph shouted. "You guys think yer so perfect, don'tcha? Why can't ya all… all go worry 'bout somethin' else?"

"Raphael." Splinter reached out a hand towards his red masked son. "I worry about all of you. I worry about every single member of my family. You and Donatello have lost the strong bond you used to all have with each other, and it is this bond, this priceless thing, that I do not want you to lose. You will regret losing it if it disappears forever."

"Look, Master Splinter, I get what ya gettin' at, but it ain't my fault," Raph glowered at Don, who was facing him guardedly. "Sensei, ya say that ya want us to forgive each other, right?"

"Yes." Splinter nodded slowly.

"Well, maybe Don should forgive me for… for… what I did ta Betty." Raph averted his gaze, staring at the ground. "He's the one bein' stupid, not me. I have one stupid accident and he refuses to forgive me. I'm only ticked off at him 'cos he's not givin' me another chance."

"Why should I have to give you another chance?" Donnie retorted. "What have you done to deserve one? I made a friend, and you went and scared her away. You… you ruined this for me, like you all do. I have to take in your needs and fix your stuff when you break them." He began poking Raph on the chest when he said 'you' or 'your'. "You guys spoil everything I make, and then you expect me to fix it like I always do. You broke… broke… and you expect me to fix…" Don turned away from Raphael, a pained expression on his face. "I'm sorry, master, but I just want to be by myself."

Without waiting for an answer, he ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Yeah, well..." Raph glared at his other two brothers, as though it was their fault that this had happened. "See if I give a damn."

He stormed out of the room, nearly ripping the door off its hinges as he did so.

"But… but the lesson… Sensei hasn't finished it," said Leo. Mikey groaned, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. Raph turned around angrily.

"You didn't go to any of these stupid trainin' sessions for weeks, and yer tellin' me to stay for them? What kinda freakin' hypocrite are ya?"

"Enough!" Splinter said loudly. He turned to Mikey. "Michelangelo, you go and see Donatello. I think he could do with your cheerful company. Raphael, I need you to calm-"

"Don'tya tell me to calm down!" Raph bawled, his temple throbbing as he shook with rage. "If Don can leave this room then so can I! And if you even think about sendin' your favourite son after me, I swear I'll rip him to shreds."

He thundered out of the room, leaving the remainder of the family stunned.

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**More family drama. But don't fret, because some of it will be sorted out next time. And I haven't forgotten about the cross dressing thing. ;) It'll occur soon enough.**


	6. The Game

**Out of curiosity, did any of you lose The Game when you read the name if this chapter? If not, well... you lost it now. Anyway, that's not the reason why this chapter's called The Game. ;p

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"Don?"

"Leave me alone."

"Come on, bro. Please open the door."

Donnie opened his room's door an inch. To his surprise, not only was Michelangelo waiting outside his door with a cake on a silver tray, but Leonardo was next to him with a cup of coffee. Donatello opened the door until it was fully open and allowed his two brothers to enter.

The room was as it had always been. There was his immaculate bed, which looked as though it had never been slept in. Peeking out from underneath it were corners of various science magazines. Next to his bed, there was his desk. He had a desk in his lab, which was in a section of their living room, but he used this desk when he woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about a new invention, and when he didn't want to be bothered by his family and the noises they made in their actions. The desk was littered with scrunched up pieces of paper (despite the fact there was a trash can next to it), and various mugs that were stained with coffee. On the desk, there was a photograph of him and April, smiling at whoever had taken the photo. The plain carpet was clear of rubbish, and its bristles tickled the bare feet of the turtles as they walked upon it. There was a tall bookcase that stood next to the door, stuffed with books that were sorted into alphabetical order.

"Where did you get the cake from?" asked Don sceptically. There was no way they had had enough time to make one for him, and there hadn't been a cake in the kitchen that morning. Also, it wasn't as though they had time to go to the surface and buy one. Cakes didn't exactly grow on trees in the sewers, or anywhere for that matter.

"It's amazing what people flush down the toilet these days…" Mikey grinned at the look on Donnie's face. "Kidding! I had this cake well and truly hidden earlier, and have finally found the perfect time to take it out and use it to make someone feel better."

"How old is that cake?" Don asked, worried.

"Look, are ya gonna eat the cake or not?" Raph was standing a short distance away, balancing a sai on the end of one of his fingers.

"What are-" Don started, his temper beginning to rise. Mikey coughed, gesturing towards the cake. Donatello narrowed his eyes at Raphael before looking down at it. The cake had a thick layer of red icing on it and lots of sprinkles. Some of the icing that had been on the top had been scratched off, but the number '10' was faintly visible on it, a faded blue colour. "Wait, is that from our tenth-" Mikey grabbed a handful of the cake and stuffed it into his brother's mouth. Mikey and Leo turned to Raph, nodding.

"Look." Raph entered the room, standing in front of his purple masked brother. He looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry for what I did, okay? I hurt Betty, and… and that hurt you. I wasn't thinkin' properly and I wish with all my heart dat it never happened... but it did. And… and tryin' ta reject the truth and pretend it never happened wasn't the right thing ta do. I know I can't expect ya to say sorry immediately, but will ya lemme redeem myself? Will ya let me show dat I wanna make it up to ya by… by…" Mikey moved the prompt closer to him. "Acceptin' ma apology? I'm really sorry."

Donatello swallowed his mouthful of cake. "You-You mean it? You must do, if you willingly read what Leo wrote for you."

"How did you know Leo wrote the prompt?" Mikey asked, cringing.

"Well, obviously it wasn't you," Don said, as Mikey took a handful of cake and began to eat it, "because there wasn't a quote from any of your favourite TV shows in it, and I can tell it isn't your writing style. And it wasn't me, because I would know if I had come up with that. April and Casey are on holiday, and you wouldn't have had enough time to ask for their help and to receive a reply in such a short amount of time. It wasn't Raphael because, no offence, he couldn't ever come up with anything like that. That left me with either Leo or Sensei, but I concluded that Master Splinter wouldn't agree to come up with the words, saying that they had to come from the heart or something to that effect. That left me with one person- Leo. So, using the process of elimination, I discovered very quickly who it was."

"Guys, we're screwed," Mikey whispered.

"But Raph never had a way with words, and I respect that." Don smiled slightly. "So… yeah, I forgive you. Not completely, but let's make a start, okay?"

"Group hug!" shouted Mikey, embracing his three brothers so that they all fell onto the floor. His brothers protested, trying to break free of his grip. Mikey let go of them and crossed his arms, pretending to be disappointed as his brothers got up off the ground, mumbling under their breath.

"And I thought ya were a wuss before," Raph groaned, rubbing his shell, "but ya somehow lowered my expectations even more."

"Now where did that come from, Mikey?" Don asked him, a small grin on his face.

"Come on guys," Mikey said, changing the subject. He couldn't help it if he expressed his happiness in a different way to them. He didn't comment on the faint smile Donnie had when he figured out the answer to a long boring equation. He didn't query the triumphant glitter that was present in Leo's eyes when he performed a difficult kata flawlessly. And he didn't question the bad jokes Raph made when he beat up a Purple Dragon. But Michelangelo, being the turtle he was, didn't bother to tell his brothers this. "Why don't we ask Sensei if we can go for a run around New York? It'll give us something to do together."

"I don't know…" Don looked over his shoulder at his laptop, which was sitting amongst the papers on his desk with its lid closed. "I wanted to stay here."

"Come on, Brainiac." Raph grabbed hold of one of Don's shoulders. "Ya can go and play with yer baby later. Starin' at that little screen all day ain't good for ya."

"Okay, okay." Don raised his hands in defeat. "You got me. I'll come with you, but I don't want to be out for too long. I have got things that need doing that involve my laptop."

"Ooh, what things?" Mikey asked as the four turtles left Donatello's room and walked towards the television. The theme song to 'The Family Next-door' was ringing out of the TV's speakers, and the brothers knew that 'The Family Next-door' was one of Splinter's favourite soap operas. They didn't know what was so appealing about it; they hadn't been able to bear more than five minutes of it, but their master had assured them that it was a remarkable programme, and the turtles had decided to take his word for it. Just as they had suspected, Master Splinter was sitting on the sofa, a tray of sandwiches perched on his laps. At the sound of their approaching footsteps, he turned his head in their direction.

"Sensei." Leonardo bowed. "I know that you want us to stay in the lair, but couldn't we go on a small trip around the city? The air might do us some good, and aid us in our recovery. I respect that you may wish for us to stay, because there is the small possibility of us running into trouble, and there is every chance we will be sighted by humans, and-" Mikey put a hand onto his brother's mouth.

"Geez Leo." Raph rolled his eyes. "We don't need ya to help Sensei make excuses so we can't go."

Leonardo peeled Mikey's hand off his face. "I was just saying…"

Master Splinter shook his head at his sons, smiling. Mikey didn't know if this was because their master found their conversation humorous, or if he just felt sorry for them. Splinter waved his left hand at them, his other hand holding tightly onto a glass of milk. "Be back by lunchtime, please."

"Where else will we get our munchies?" joked Mikey. "April and Casey are in merry ol' England, so we can't bump food off of them like we usually do." And they couldn't exactly go to Angel's place, what with her grandmother being oblivious to their existence. She would most likely freak out at the sight of four giant turtles at her front door, asking if they could stay over for lunch. A lot of humans acted that way the first time they met, including their dear friend April. And if they gave Angel's grandmother a heart attack because of their presence, Angel was very likely to get more than slightly ticked off at them. And they didn't know where their other comrades were, so they would have to return to the lair for lunch.

"We could buy a pizza or somethin'," Raph suggested. "Donnie's treat."

Splinter nodded, dismissing them.

"Hey!" Don exclaimed as they left the lair. Mikey discovered that Leo had been correct when he had said the fresh air would do them good; the gentle breeze of the mid morning air was refreshing on his face, and when Mikey breathed it in, it sent a pleasant tingle down his throat. Michelangelo stretched his arms upwards, grinning at the sun, which was slowly crawling its way to the top of the sky. The sun returned to Mikey an equally bright smile. Soon after they had climbed out of a manhole, which was situated in a dark alleyway, Mikey decided to see how close he could get to the sun. Jumping from one wall of the passageway to the other, he made his way upwards. His brothers, thinking that Mikey was silently challenging them to a race, hurried to catch up with him.

"Ya… ya got lucky," Raph panted, after the three brothers had joined him at the top of a block of flats. "Ya only got to the top first 'cos ya had a head start."

"I wasn't racing you," Mikey told him, "because I wasn't even trying." He chuckled. "Wow, that means you guys are really out of shape."

"We weren't trying either," Donatello told him. There was silence for a few seconds, before he, Raph and Mikey burst out laughing. They knew that Mikey was a natural athlete, and his laziness and interest for less active things was what prevented him from reaching his full potential. Leonardo ignored them, looking over the side of the building, watching for any humans that might spot them.

"So, what'd ya want to do now?" asked Raph. "'Cos I was thinkin'... how about we play a little game? Whoever loses has to buy a takeaway for all of us."

"You promised pizza!" Mikey argued. "You said we could get pizza. You said!"

"And I said 'or somethin'', ya moron," Raphael reminded him. "But okay, loser buys pizza for everyone. So, I was thinkin' dat we have a game of hide and seek. Whoever gets found first loses."

"Who's seeking?" Don asked him, "because it will be impossible for them to lose, so they won't have to buy any pizza."

"I think I should count," Mikey told them. He was saving up for a drum kit, having already taught himself how to play the electric guitar (despite the disadvantage of only having three fingers on each hand).

"Nice try" Raph hit him on the back of the head. "Ya just don't wanna have to buy us some grub. Yer hidin' and dat's dat. And Don ain't countin', 'cos last time he cheated with those nerdy x-ray glasses."

"They weren't x-ray glasses; they were infra-red glasses. Also, it wasn't last time; it was ages ago," Donatello corrected him. "I don't mind if I have to be one of the turtles hiding, because I know where I am going to hide. And Raph, are you hinting that you think you should be the seeker? Did you forget about the time when you were supposed to find us, and you went to April's place and we were left hanging from a water tank for about six hours until you finally decided to show up?"

"Geez Don, don't ya have better things to remember?"

"You did that the last time we played!" Mikey exclaimed, "and I caught that stupid cold and had to eat that disgusting soup Sensei made for me."

Raph rolled his eyes. "I didn't tell ya to stay there. If ya had any sense, ya would have-"

"Look." Leo growled, speaking for the first time since they had left the lair. "I'll seek. You have one minute to hide. One… Two…"

The other three turtles yelped, running off in different directions. Out of the corner of his eye, Mikey could see Raph heading towards the other side of town. Don was jumping down towards the manhole from which they had come out of.

_He's probably going back to the lair to 'hide', _Mikey thought to himself, smiling at the nerve of his brother. If Mikey could find an equally good hiding place, then Raphael would be found first and he would have to fork up the cash to buy them pizza. Now that was too good for Michelangelo to pass up. The look on Raphael's face when Leo found him would be priceless. It was a shame that he wouldn't be there when Raph was discovered, because he would be hiding somewhere else. Life could be so cruel sometimes.

"Fifty… Fifty one… Fifty two… Fifty three…"

Mikey jumped, realizing that in order for his brother to be found first, he had to make sure that he wasn't located first. But he had less than seven seconds to hide, and he was clearly visible only a rooftop away. Michelangelo took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as he searched the area for a good hiding place.

"Fifty six... Fifty seven…"

Mikey put his hand onto his mouth, growing desperate to find any sort of place to hide. But time had nearly run out and he couldn't find any place that wasn't in Leonardo's view. Except… Mikey gave his brother a sideways glance. He wasn't sure if his idea would work, but he wasn't prepared to buy any of them a meal. And knowing Raph, he would order the most expensive pizza that he could. Michelangelo decided that he was going to have to risk it.

"Fifty eight… fifty nine…"

Mikey's feet hammered against the roof he was standing on, and he threw himself through the air before landing neatly at his destination. He hoped that his idea would work.

"Sixty." Leo opened his eyes. "Okay guys, ready or not, here I come."


	7. The Lie

**Here is chapter 7, the longest chapter I've ever written. That is, until I go onto writing Lord Warumagi's School For Human Hybrids.**

**I love how bad this is. It's unbelievable, but looking back... I think I've gotten better. xD Though I do wish I kept the ability to not use as much dialogue.  
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Leonardo scanned the area in front of him in case one of his brothers had chosen a stupidly obvious place to hide. He knew that they wouldn't, because they had played this game many times before and none of them chose to lose without some sort of effort. In any case, no one wanted to have to buy pizza for their siblings because they had lost a game for little kids. Leo found that he was right; none of his brothers were in the immediate area. The roofs of the surrounding buildings were bare and contained no obstacles to hide behind. Leo sighed and walked across the length of the roof to start his search.

Mikey covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. If he made any noise, Leo would turn around and find him. To distract himself, Michelangelo listened to the sound of his brother's footsteps so he could work out the pace Leo was walking at. Then, Mikey mimicked Leonardo's footsteps so that they were both walking at the same time. Now it sounded as though there was only one set of footsteps. The orange masked turtle sighed in relief, glad that he was able to copy his brother without getting caught.

Leonardo flinched, coming to an abrupt halt. Mikey looked down, realizing that although his movement had matched his brother's, his breathing hadn't. Slowly, Mikey bent his knees, preparing himself to move. Leo turned his head, looking over his shoulder. Mikey dodged sideways so that he was positioned next to his brother. Leo, seeing that nobody was seemingly there, faced forward again and continued walking. Mikey resumed his place behind Leo, breathing as little as possible. Leonardo didn't turn around, so Mikey knew that Leo couldn't hear his breathing over his footsteps. It looked as though Michelangelo's idea was working. To show his excitement, Mikey took advantage of his ignorant brother and did a 'bunny ears' gesture behind Leonardo's head.

Leo, without any warning, jumped off the edge of the building and sailed through the air before landing neatly on a nearby roof. Mikey stayed where he was for a moment, giving his brother a head start. Then, the youngest turtle went after him, coming down on the same spot his brother had landed on. Mikey could see his brother a small distance away, jumping from building to building as he crossed the city. Michelangelo took a deep breath before chasing after him.

The atmosphere of the scene was too breathtaking to put into words. As he leaped from building to building, Mikey felt as though he was flying, landing briefly so he could take off the ground again. As he watched his oldest brother (so he didn't lose sight of him), he was able to see what the city looked like during the day. It was very different to what it looked like at night. The small details that were hidden in the darkness of the night were now clearly visible. Mikey could see the off-colour bricks of New York's tower blocks. He could see the cracks that the shadows usually smothered. And, when he glanced at the inside of an office block and saw the city's residents working within them, he realized how free he and his brothers actually were. They weren't tied down by work and school and whatever humans were required to do; the turtles were free to live their lives and not be puppets playing out the lives of everyday people.

The wind crashed into Mikey's face, waking him up from his trance. He didn't have time to think about life. He had more important things to do, like avoid having to buy pizza.

Michelangelo knew what _he_ was doing, but he didn't quite understand what Leonardo was doing. Leo kept running forward and he didn't even pause for a breath. How was he supposed to find his brothers if he didn't stop to look for them? That was the point of hide and seek… even Master Splinter, who hadn't played it in years, knew the aim of the game. So what the shell was Leo thinking?

Leonardo came to a standstill, having reached his desired destination. Mikey stopped running as well and looked around to see where they were. They were on a two storey building, which was in a rundown area of New York. All the buildings within the vicinity were dull and dirty, having not been looked after for many years. Leo settled himself on the edge of the building, facing away from the depressing view of the neighbourhood. Michelangelo quickly jumped off the building, landing on a platform. He glanced at the door that led from the inside of the building to where he was standing. It was labelled 'Fire exit'.

"Leonardo," a female voice said from above him. Mikey recognized it immediately- it was the leader of the Foot clan, Karai. "When we arranged to meet here, I thought that you meant for us to meet inside of the building."

_They arranged to meet? _Michelangelo thought, confused.

"I didn't have time to get a disguise," Leo explained. "My brothers were so eager to play hide and seek that I didn't have time to get ready. I know that Pete's Burger Bar is just about deserted, but Pete will still be there and if he saw a giant mutant turtle come in he would probably phone the police."

_So that's why he was so reluctant to go out with us. He wanted to leave the lair by himself so he could go and see Karai. But then… _Mikey frowned. _Why did he need to go see her in the first place?_

"Very well. We shall have to make this quick. We are still enemies, in case you have forgotten. How are you, Leonardo?" Karai asked him.

"I've been better," Leo replied. Mikey jumped sideways and grabbed the top edge of the building. Then, he lifted himself up slightly so he could see the scene. Leo was mostly turned away from him and was watching Karai with his arms crossed. Karai was standing a few metres in front of Leonardo, her eyes staring hard at the blue masked turtle. Leo pressed on, "It's been… difficult, to say the least."

"If I wished to know that much, I would have just read the letters you have sent me again," she told him. "You speak of these so-called problems, but when it comes to elaborating on them your mouth remains firmly shut."

"It's just…" Leonardo sighed, averting his gaze away from her. He looked as though he wasn't willing to continue, but then Karai took a few steps towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders. Mikey reached his right hand towards his nunchucks automatically, prepared to help his brother if Karai tried to hurt him in any way.

"Do not walk in circles, Leonardo," Karai told Leo quietly, "for you will not reach your destination."

Mikey widened his eyes, expecting them to do something completely off-character like burst into song. In fact, it would make more sense to him if the Shredder materialized out of thin air with a tray of muffins. Why was his eldest brother, a goody-goody two shoes, talking to their enemy? Yes, they had come to some form of understanding after they had teamed up with one another to defeat the 'Darkness' a few weeks ago, but the turtles and the Foot weren't exactly best friends. In any case, they weren't friendly enough to meet up with one another to talk about how they were feeling. The brothers didn't even talk in much depth to each other about their emotions.

"Well…" Leo looked at the floor, gaining a sudden interest in it. "It's… it's just…"

"Go on…" Mikey murmured. "Unleash your inner emotions. Tell the world what you have to say."

To his horror, Karai and Leonardo flinched. Mikey ducked his head, his heart thumping. Why was it that on TV, when a character talked to themselves, nobody else heard them? Why couldn't the same be said for real life?

"Who's there?" Leo turned around, confirming Michelangelo's fears. They had heard him. Then, in an angrier tone, he added, "Show yourself!"

Mikey swung himself sideways and landed on the fire escape from earlier. His feet impacted loudly with the metal staircase, its scream ringing in his ears. Michelangelo jumped off the fire escape and landed on the ground, stumbling forward a bit to keep his balance. Then, on hearing the light footsteps of what he suspected was Karai, he made a break for it. Mikey crashed into some trash cans, knocking them to the side as he ran away from the area. He didn't notice he had run into a dead-end until his face smashed into some metal wiring.

"Shell." Mikey rubbed his chin. "Why does this kind of stuff only happen to me? I mean, you never see Sensei get his robe stuck in the door or-" He stopped before slapping himself on the head. "Shell Mikey, you're talking to yourself out loud again." He looked up at the chain link fence that was blocking him from entering the next neighbourhood, thinking. It seemed possible to climb up. It was several feet high, but nothing that he couldn't handle. Michelangelo put his fingers through the gaps in the fence and began to scuttle up it.

When he reached the top, he flipped himself over and arrived on the other side of the fence. Mikey turned around, curious as to why Karai hadn't caught up with him yet. It wasn't as if she wasn't wearing her father's armour, and even then she was pretty fast in it.

"Whoever… they are…" Karai complained from a distance away. "They… are… the filthiest creature… I know…"

Ah. She didn't want to get dirty from the overturned bins that now littered the alleyway, which Michelangelo had run through moments ago. Mikey sniggered. What a typical girl thing. _And Leo couldn't go after me in broad daylight, _Mikey thought to himself as he left the dark passageway and entered the adjacent neighbourhood, safely out of sight from Karai, _because there was every chance that he would get… get spotted… by… oh shell._

"Monster!" shrieked a woman, grabbing hold of her young son's arm and pulling him away from Michelangelo. The other humans reacted in a similar fashion, holding onto loved ones and backing away from him. "Somebody call the police!"

"No," a man with a thick moustache exclaimed, "call the army!"

Mikey rolled his eyes, hardly believing what was happening. Bishop had talked about their existence many, many times and they still seemed surprised. Though, in defence of the humans, Bishop had told them that the turtles were evil aliens that snatched children out of their beds at night and started their day with a bowl of brains. Michelangelo knew that he should retreat from the area as quickly as possible, but he found that he was frozen to the spot.

"There you are!" Karai appeared from behind him, a look of disgust on her face. Mikey wasn't sure whether or not he should be pleased with her appearance or not. "I wondered where you had got to."

"Ms Saki," said a woman wearing purple glasses. She widened her eyes. "Where did you come from?"

"I was at a conference when this associate of mine," she gestured towards Michelangelo, "who was doing an… entertaining presentation regarding what we should do with the giant turtles, when he realized that he had left some important papers in his office block. We allowed him to leave so he could acquire them, but it would seem that he lost his way. It is quite an unfamiliar place to many people at the meeting."

"So he's wearing a costume?" the woman wearing purple glasses remarked.

"Of course he is," Karai snapped. "The real turtles would not be idiotic enough to walk around in the daytime." _Thanks, _Mikey thought sarcastically. Karai grabbed Michelangelo's wrist. "Now, we must be off. We are all on the edge of our seat, waiting for your presentation."

She marched him down the alleyway in which they had come from, only stopping when they were out of view from the others.

"Well." Mikey stretched his arms. "Uh… thanks for helping me out back there. Dunno why you did that, but I'm not complaining. I thought I was a goner."

"I was not doing you any favours," Karai sneered. She didn't say anything for a moment, as though she was trying to think why she helped him. "You are family of Leonardo, and I owe him my life... he chose not to kill me... in any case, I did not want Agent Bishop to get hold of you and benefit in any way. I was doing myself a favour…" She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are... that… your name is…"

"I'm Mikey, remember?" Mikey reminded her.

"You are the stupid one, but that is not what I wish to know. What I want to know is this." She leaned forward, her eyes fixed on him. "Were you spying on me and Leonardo?" Although it was a question, the way she said it made it sound as though it was a statement.

"Hm…" Mikey pulled a face, putting a finger on his chin. "It depends on what you mean by 'spying'."

Karai gritted her teeth. "Do not make yourself look stupider than you already are. You were listening in on my meeting with your brother, were you not?"

Michelangelo sighed, realizing that Karai was not going to be distracted from the subject. "Okay Karai, you win. But... uh, why were you meeting him?"

"That is none of your concern."

Mikey had expected as much. Restraining himself from groaning, he said, "What can I do so you don't tell Leo?"

"I was about to ask the same thing," Karai replied. "I do not wish for your family to know of this incident. I suggest we both act as thought this never happened."

"That sounds like a deal." Mikey held out his hand. Karai crossed her arms, glaring at him. Michelangelo lowered his arm. It seemed they weren't going to shake on it, then. "I'll… uh… see you later."

"Our paths will most likely cross in the near future. Just pray that you are not on the receiving end of my sword when we meet again," Karai sauntered away, leaving the orange masked turtle by himself.

"No wonder she hasn't got any friends," Mikey muttered, returning to the metal wiring and climbing over it. He left the alleyway and entered the deserted neighbourhood on the other side. Then, finding a manhole, he dropped down it and headed back to the lair. His footsteps echoed, bouncing off the walls. Mikey felt as dirty as the walls surrounding him. He had made a deal with their sworn enemy and despite it being a peaceful one that both had willingly agreed to, it made him feel like he had betrayed his family.

_No… I didn't betray anyone. Karai helped me and I decided to help her in return, because I'm cool like that. There's nothing wrong with saying thanks to someone who stopped people calling the army on you. I did the right thing making that deal with her._

Feeling marginally better, Mikey's pace sped up and he ran the rest of the way home. Now all he wanted to do was just sit in front of the television and play Rock Band 2. Thinking about the game made his fingers twitch. Michelangelo mentally reassured himself that he would be able to play it soon.

By now, he had reached the lair. Breathing deeply, he entered.

Donatello and Raphael were sitting on the sofa, a brightly coloured box of pizza on the end table in front of them. Donnie was grinning slightly, chewing his mouthful of pizza slowly as he watched Raph out of the corner of his eye. The red masked turtle had his arms crossed, a look of defeat clearly present on his face. Michelangelo settled himself next to Donatello, helping himself to a slice of pizza.

"So ya finally decided to quit hidin'," Raph remarked, glaring at the pizza in Mikey's hands with disgust.

"How'd I do?" Mikey asked, cramming the slice of pizza into his mouth. An eruption of heavenly flavour overwhelmed him, the hot cheese exploding rapidly as he chewed.

"You won," Don told him after a moment, realizing that Raphael wasn't going to admit this. "Leo found Raph very quickly. Do you wish to tell Mikey about your chosen hiding place, or can I have the honour of doing so?"

"Go ahead. I ain't dat bothered." Raph yawned, leaning back. Mikey smiled at him. Raphael was being too laidback, which meant that he was secretly bothered.

"Raph went to Angel's place," Donnie explained, "because her friends have a steady supply of alcoholic beverages. So Raph was busy having fun drinking in Angel's room when who should come by but Leonardo himself. And what happened next, Raph?"

"He was Mister Attitude," Raph muttered darkly. "I dunno what was botherin' him, but somethin' had ticked him off. He started this stupid lecture, sayin' dat I was poisonin' myself. I had one stinkin' can, and he made it sound like I was dancin' with a lampshade on my head on the table. So we had an argument, said stupid things, and he went off in a huff."

"Then he came back to the lair," Don continued, "and… uh… 'found' me at my laptop. He didn't say anything, but judging by the look he gave me he disapproved of my hiding place. Or he was just mad from earlier."

"But he never found ya, so ya won." Raphael's face twitched when he said 'won'. "Okay Mike, tell us where ya were."

"Oh…" Mikey decided to suddenly have a coughing fit. Raph leant over Don and slapped him on the back. Mikey's eyes watered from the impact, so he decided to miraculously recover. "Well. It's a very boring story, which would be too lame to even speak of. Next topic- Rock Band 2."

"Come on," Don nudged him, "tell us where you were. Where was the great, fantastic, sneaky-"

"Don, his head's big enough." Raph put his hands near his head before moving them away. "His head will explode or somethin' if ya flatter him much more. He was probably playin' some stupid game at the arcade. Or readin' a stupid comic."

Mikey's face reddened. "I wasn't."

"Yeah Raph." Don glared at him. Mikey gave his brother a grateful smile. Donne grinned. "He was most likely playing air guitar on a rooftop."

The ends of Mikey's mouth dropped downwards, while in contrast Raph's face lit up.

"Yeah, and I bet he was learnin' the words to the 'Turtle Titan' theme song." Raph chuckled. He stood up, grabbing a nearby coat rack. The trench coats that were hanging from it fell to the ground as he pulled it towards his mouth. Then, in a low voice, he said, "Is it a bird… Is it a plane…"

"No." Don stood up, putting his half eaten slice of pizza to the side. "It's the Turtle Titan!"

_Why did I help them make up again? _Mikey thought bitterly.

"Who keeps the-" Raph started, but Mikey had stood up angrily, distracting his taunting brothers. They blinked at him, confused. Usually Mikey played along when they made fun of him. He never got cross.

Michelangelo didn't know why he said it. Was it because he was sick of his family stereotyping him? Was it because he wanted to prove that he was more mature than they thought he was? Nevertheless, Mikey said what he said.

"If you must know, I was with my girlfriend!"


	8. The Deserter

**Early update is early (it's school break, so what'dya expect me to do? School work?). But Saturday's update will still happen. :) By the way, the italic writing in this chapter are the emails that Mikey is reading. It'll make sense in a moment. TMNT belongs to... uh... Nickelodeon now, I believe. Not me. Yet. /evil laughter/  


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"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Michelangelo splashed his face with water in an attempt to wake himself up. He had gotten out of bed before his alarm clock went off and was standing in the lair's bathroom in front of the sink. His could see his reflection in the mirror, which was hanging above the sink. He was pale and exhausted. He had barely slept that night, too busy trying to think of an excuse as to why he couldn't bring his 'girlfriend' to see his family. He had told his brothers that he would show them her in three days, because she was 'too busy' to do anything earlier than that. It didn't solve the problem, but it gave him more time to think.

"You could like, admit you don't have a girlfriend," his reflection told him, a disappointed look on its face.

"But then they'll make even more fun of me," Mikey retorted, grabbing a bar of soap, "and they might ask where I really was. I can't tell them that I was spying on Leo and Karai. I promised her I wouldn't."

His reflection laughed scornfully. "Ooh… you _promised _Karai you wouldn't. And it's not like you can put one toe a tiny bit out of line. Oh no, that would taint your soul, wouldn't it? Make you a bad person."

"Yeah, it would make me a bad person." Michelangelo began to wash his hands. The soap slipped between his wet fingers, spiraling downwards into the half full sink. Mikey groaned before sticking his hand into the cold water and feeling around for it.

"Yeah, 'cos it's not like you already lied or anything," his reflection smirked. Mikey glared at the mirror and decided to take his eyes off it. He didn't have the time to fret about an annoying hallucination. He had a few days to find himself a girlfriend or else face the eternal mocking of Raphael. He yawned, before trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Mikey shuffled out of the bathroom and entered the living room. He found himself in total darkness, with the exception of a strange glow at the far end of the room. Mikey found the light switch on the wall and flicked it on. He discovered that the glow had come from the lair's main computer, which was turned on. Donnie was sitting in front of it, his head against the desk. Mikey came up from behind him and poked his arm. Don mumbled something, turning his head to the side. He began to snore quietly, tucking his arm around his head.

"Hey Don, if you don't answer now you're a dork," Michelangelo stated quickly. Donatello didn't reply, which caused Mikey to giggle slightly. The orange masked turtle pushed Don's chair to the side, along with the turtle himself.

"Where are you…?" Don murmured. Mikey froze and didn't move until he heard Don snore again. Then, Mikey took hold of the mouse and checked to see what Don was up to on the computer, just like younger brothers should so.

"What the shell?" Mikey whispered, widening his eyes. Their internet browser was open and there were about a dozen tabs. About ten of them were different search engines, but each one had the same phrase in the search bar.

Betty Arnold.

Mikey looked at his older brother with pity. Donnie still missed her, and it seemed that he refused to let her become a picture, framed on the wall of his memories. Mikey didn't really understand why Don missed her so much. She was a nice person, but she had chosen to leave the turtles' lives and Mikey thought it was better if it stayed that way. However, he knew that Donatello would probably not accept that reason because he didn't think the reason was logical. Michelangelo sighed, minimizing the window, as if it would make the whole 'Betty' problem go away. But it didn't.

_Is that why Don's spending so much time on his laptop? _Mikey wondered silently as he opened up his email account. Was he on cyberspace, chasing after someone who had left as quickly as she had come? And Donatello was most likely right in thinking that it was illogical for her to go away. Though, Mikey wouldn't use the word 'illogical' for someone who had entered their lives, messed with his brother's head before leaving without saying goodbye. Mikey had much more colourful words for people like that. He closed his eyes for a moment, let out a small growl, before placing his eyes back onto the computer screen. He had six new emails. Not bad for a ninja turtle that lived in the sewers.

Mikey clicked on the oldest unread email and found that it was from 'Renetiskute'. It took Michelangelo a minute to realize that it wasn't from a person called Renetiskute, but from their mad time traveling friend Renet. Who was kind of cute.

_Like hi! Sorry if this is too late, but you have to make sure that those weird mystics with the funny hats don't resuscitate the Original Shredder. Yeah, the jellyfish you know isn't the real Shredder, but just a creepy alien that based itself on them. I know this sounds stupid, but you have to trust me. :O  
_

Mikey smiled, deleting the email. He could never get tired of Renet. He clicked on the next email, which was from Casey.

_Hey Mikey! I hear that ya have a girlfriend. How can ya have one? You're a giant turtle monster. What the hell Mike? And you're not even the handsome one. Lemme guess, your brothers found matchin' ones as well? Ya don't know how funny this is._

"It's as funny as your face," Mikey snapped at the computer, even though Casey had no way of hearing him. He practically punched the mouse as he deleted Casey's email. He opened the next one, which was from April, feeling suspicious.

_Hi Mikey! England's really nice, and no, we haven't had any tea at all. The sights are amazing, and I think the best part so far was seeing this play called 'Blood Brothers' at Phoenix Theatre. The only bad part was that Casey had to leave partway through, because he kept complaining that he couldn't understand what the actors were saying. Before you ask, I've bought you all souvenirs and the pizza in NY is better than the pizza here._

_And Don sent me an email saying that you have a girlfriend (?) I am a little curious as to who it is, because it's not like you know that many human girls. Is it Angel? Casey thinks it's a blind person or someone very, very desperate. But you ignore him, and I hope you are very happy with whoever they are!_

Mikey blinked a few times, hardly believing what he was reading. News certainly spread fast, it appeared. The next email was from Angel. Michelangelo scratched his head, confused. Why did Angel have to email him if she lived close by? Having a bad feeling about what it was about, he opened it.

_Mikey! What's all this you have a girlfriend? Oh my god I can't believe it. Who is she? I want a reply NOW or I'm coming to find you so I can throttle the information out of you… Jokes! But seriously Mike… who is she?_

It was times like this that Michelangelo hated the internet. Very, very much. Mikey opened up the next email, and saw that Casey had sent him another one.

_April told me to apologize for earlier. She saw what I sent ya and got annoyed. So yeah, you're not the ugliest. Don is._

Mikey turned his head towards Donnie, smiling slightly. Then, he decided to see what the last email contained.

_Do you need car insurance? Then look no-_

Mikey deleted the email, not bothering to read the rest of it. He closed the window down, moved Don's head so he was in a more comfortable position, and went to the front of the television to wait for his morning session.

TMNTNMT

Master Splinter set down a tray in front of a wary Michelangelo. Mikey cast his eyes down on it, only slightly pleased that he didn't have to look at any more flowers. However, now it seemed that he was going to be looking at various blobs of wet clay. Mikey didn't know whether this was for the better or for the worst.

"As ninjas," Splinter said, "we must be able to move both gracefully and practically. And movement is not just limited to reaching destinations in a literal sense, my son. It also applies to reaching destinations set by yourself." He sighed at the expression on his son's face. "What that means, Michelangelo, is that moving does not necessary have to refer to physical places. Moving towards a goal is equally important and accomplishing your chosen task is very rewarding. And good for you."

"I have lots of stuff I'm trying to accomplish already," Mikey told him. "Raph beat my high score in Helix and you don't know how hard it is to do that. I would spend like, longer playing it but I'm far too busy doing these long tiring lessons and stuff."

"That is not what I meant." Splinter massaged his temples, before continuing. "I have retrieved some clay for you, and I would like you to create something from it. Visualize what you wish to create and let your hands form it."

"Don't I get one of those cool spinny things?" Mikey asked Splinter.

Master Splinter sat down on the middle of the carpet, crossing his legs. "Michelangelo, you will get a potter's wheel when I give Donatello a cloning machine."

He closed his eyes and sank into a deep meditation.

Making things with clay, Mikey soon found, was very boring. His hands became caked with the stuff in a matter of minutes, and his life sized replica of the Turtle Titan resembled a hideous bug that had been stepped on multiple times. And then sat on by Raphael. Michelangelo pushed his 'masterpiece' to the side, found the remote, and turned the television on. If he hurried, he would be in time to see the start of a new show called 'Youthful Abnormal Kung-fu Newts.'

"Man." Mikey whistled at the TV. "That is some serious animation! It's moving so… so… what's the word?"

"Fluidly?" suggested Master Splinter.

"Yeah. Fluid-" Mikey gulped. He could feel Master Splinter's presence from behind him, and it seemed to be a very angry presence. Mikey blinked a few times before sticking out his arms, drooling. Splinter got out his walking stick and hit his youngest son on the head.

"Whoa…" Mikey pretended to look surprised. "Where am I? The last thing I remember was talking to this creepy old lady with a magic staff, and then she said some strange words… and… and I don't know what happened after that."

"Your excuses aren't up to their usual standard," Splinter remarked, taking the remote from him and turning the television off."I thought I told you to create something with the clay I gave you. I do not recall allowing you to watch the TV."

"Yeah, and I did Sensei." Mikey reached forward and picked up his final product. "See? I made something, just like you wanted me to."

Splinter put a hand onto his chin, his fingers combing through his beard. "May I ask what it is?"

"It's whatever you want it to be," Mikey declared, holding it above his head.

"I see." Splinter tapped Michelangelo's shoulder, and the turtle got to his feet. "In that case, I want it to be better."

"Touché." Mikey clapped his hands three times before heading towards the kitchen to make breakfast. He decided to save Splinter the trouble of asking him to.

"Michelangelo?"

"Yes Sensei?" Mikey paused, craning his neck around to get a good view of his father.

"I cannot wait to see your new female friend," Splinter bowed his head at his son, "whoever they may be."

"Uh… sure. Thanks." Mikey quickly faced forward, his face red. His brothers had far bigger mouths than he thought. Michelangelo went into the kitchen and shut the door roughly. What was he going to do now? It was as if the whole world wanted to know about his non-existent girlfriend. He faced three days of torture and then a finale of humiliation when his family realized that he had been lying. And there was a high chance he would have to explain where he had really been, which he had promised he would not do.

"How is a mutant turtle meant to find a girlfriend?" Mikey grumbled, pouring water into the kettle. "I don't know what sounds stupider, that or the fact that they actually believed me." He put the kettle down to boil before searching through the fridge in an attempt to find fresh milk. Klunk, the turtles' small ginger cat, came up from behind the orange masked turtle and wrapped his tail around Mikey's leg.

"Klunk!" Mikey picked him up gently and held him to his face. Klunk meowed quietly, staring up at him with his big adorable eyes. "Where did you come from?"

Klunk meowed again.

Mikey sighed, rubbing his face on his soft fur. "You don't care whether I have a girlfriend, do you? You couldn't care less that I lied, unless it meant that you didn't get any fish."

"You don't have a girlfriend?" a voice exclaimed.

Mikey was tempted to stay where he was and not see who had heard his declaration. Of course, he knew who had heard it, but it was nice to pretend that only him and Klunk had heard his confession. However, the newcomer was not going to let the subject drop so easily, so Michelangelo found himself looking into the eyes of Angel.

"You gotta be joking," Angel said, a small smile escaping onto her face. "I came here to find out who your girlfriend was, and it turns out you don't really have one? I got up early for nothing?"

Mikey sighed, letting Klunk jump out of his grip. Then, Michelangelo sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. "You don't know how screwed I am, Angel. Everyone's expecting me to bring a girl who likes me to the lair in three days. Three days, Angel!" Mikey's body shook slightly, and he gazed at Angel worriedly. "What the shell can I do?"

Angel rolled her eyes. "Tell them the truth? Geez Mike, do you ever use your brain? It's not rocket science." Seeing Mikey's hurt face, she sat down next to him and put her arm around him. "No one's expecting you to bring a girlfriend to the lair. It's kind of obvious that you don't have one."

"Yeah, I guess…" Mikey gazed at the wall. It would be awesome if he could somehow find a girlfriend so he could see the looks on his brothers' faces. It would be a way of proving that he wasn't always the last one to do something, left behind playing video games as his brothers grew up. Michelangelo smiled sadly at Angel. "There's no chance of you being my girlfriend for the day, is there?"

Angel laughed. "When Raph told me last night, I tried to get him to tell me who your lucky girl was. I sorta eliminated myself from your options, Mike."

Mikey groaned, looking up at the ceiling. His life was ruined and there didn't seem to be any way out of it. He didn't know any other females, and he wasn't exactly able to go find any. This was his punishment for making a deal with Karai. This was his punishment for lying. Angel removed her arm from around his shoulders and got to her feet. "I've gotta go to school now. Nan got wind that I've been skiving, and she's making sure I go. And I'll be late soon."

"Why did you skive in the first place?" Mikey asked her. "You get to communicate with kids your age. You don't have to spend all day in the sewers, all alone with only your annoying family to keep you company."

Angel went to the kitchen door, laughing unemotionally. "Yeah… communicate."

She opened the door and left the room, leaving Mikey with his cat and his big problem.


	9. The Guilt

**Thankees for the reviews. ;) They make me very very happy. Well, time for the next chapter.**

* * *

Comics and video games were played an important role in Michelangelo's life.

There were many reasons for this. Firstly, they were fun and they were a good way to relax after a long tiring training session with Master Splinter. Secondly, they allowed Mikey to escape the outside world and enter one where he didn't have to worry about upcoming events that would cause him to look like an idiot. He could pretend to be someone else when he was reading about superheroes. He wasn't the brother caught in the middle of Leo and Raph's arguments. He wasn't the turtle being laughed at by his family. He was the Silver Sentry, the Turtle Titan and at times, Mario. It sounded stupid, but Mikey sometimes found that the world of superheroes was better than the one he was born in.

"Michelangelo?" Leonardo opened the door to Mikey's room before closing it gently behind him. The youngest turtle didn't bother to look up from his Gameguy and continued to try to beat his high score. Leo took a step towards him, a concerned look on his face. "Mikey? What's up? You didn't eat any of your breakfast. Also, you didn't laugh when Sensei's robe got stuck in the door and ripped down the back."

"I'm not hungry," Mikey mumbled, turning his back on Leo. "And if you found that funny, then shame on you. You're supposed to be setting a good example."

The blue masked turtle sighed before making his way over to his brother.

Michelangelo's room was as messy as Leonardo remembered. He had a pile of pillows placed on top of his bedside table, most likely covering his new alarm clock that their master refused to let Mikey to dispose of. Michelangelo had so many comic books that they didn't all fit into his closet and many could be seen spotted around on the carpet. His action figures weren't in sight, but Leo knew that they were in a box under his brother's bed. The room was in darkness, so Leo decided to turn the lights on. He played with the light switch before realizing that the lights were broken. Klunk was on the carpet, chewing on one of Mikey's nunchucks. When the cat saw Leonardo, he wrapped himself around Leo's ankle.

"Hey there," Leo murmured, bending down to stroke Klunk. He could feel Mikey's eyes burning into the back of his head, so Leo remained where he was. If Michelangelo wished to talk about what was bothering him, then he would do it on his own free will. Leo knew what it felt like to have people badgering you about your emotions, and he didn't want to have to inflict that feeling onto his brother. Klunk jumped onto Leo's neck, draping himself around the turtle like he was a scarf. "Has Mikey been remembering to feed you?"

Klunk meowed.

"He has? That's nice to know." Leo smiled, tickling Klunk behind the ear. He looked up at Michelangelo to see his reaction to the scene. The pair locked eyes for a moment, but Mikey just turned away from him with his arms crossed. Leonardo sighed, placing his gaze back on the ginger cat. "Have you met any nice lady cats recently, or are you enjoying the free life of a bachelor?"

Klunk meowed again.

"You reckon you're too young to be thinking about these things?" Leo remarked. "Well, I suppose you're right. I suspect relationships would tie you down a bit, huh?"

Mikey put his hands against the sides of his head, growling slightly. Then, he turned his head around and glared at his eldest brother. "What the shell Leo? Did you just come here to flirt with Klunk or something?"

"Mikey!" Leonardo widened his eyes in mock surprise. "I didn't see you there!"

"Whatever, bro." Mikey turned off his game and put it down on his pile of pillows. "You know, I'm only stopping because it's interesting to see you flirting with Klunk."

"I wasn't flirting with him!" Leo unwrapped Klunk from around his neck and put him on Mikey's laps. "I was just having a conversation with him. Seeing as, you know," Leo put his arm behind his head, standing up straight, "you were busy playing with your game console."

Michelangelo raised his brow. "I'm not anymore. So what do you want? Can't you see I don't want to talk?"

"Yeah." Leonardo looked for a clear space on the floor so he could sit down. When he saw that each inch of the carpet was covered with something, he kicked aside some comics and created a clear space. He sat down, resting his chin on his hands. Mikey couldn't help but notice that Leo looked a lot weaker and older than he actually was. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. You were really quiet at breakfast… too quiet to go unnoticed."

"Really? Because no one else seemed to notice, not even Master Splinter," Mikey mumbled, turning around completely and dangling his legs off the edge of his bed, "and Sensei has x-ray vision or something."

"Of course Sensei noticed your peculiar behaviour." Leonardo rolled his eyes, much to Mikey's annoyance. "He's the one who suggested I come see how you were in the first place." So he wasn't being the caring older brother then. He was acting on his Master's orders. Mikey scowled, looking at his Game Guy. "Donnie and Raph saw that there was something up with you too. Raphael says that your little girlfriend dumped you or something."

"Ha ha ha." Mikey frowned. "Not."

Leo sighed. "I can't imagine what's bothering you. It's not like you lied about having a girlfriend or something. Now, that _would _be something to worry about."

Mikey groaned, burying his face in his hands. Leonardo raised one of his fingers so it was hanging next to his head. "You… don't have a girlfriend, do you?" Mikey shook his head, not raising it to look at his brother. Leo took a deep breath, trying not to laugh. He didn't know what there was to laugh about, but he found the situation… unusual, though strangely Michelangelo-like. "Oh dear, Mike. What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Two and a half days, bro," Mikey removed his left hand from underneath his face and held up two fingers, "and then I face the most epic fail of my life."

Leo smiled. Mikey had used the word 'epic' and 'fail' in the same sentence, which meant that not all hope was lost.

"Come on, no one's expecting you to bring a girl home," Leo comforted him. "Donnie's even planned to set up a camera so when you enter the lair, it will automatically take a picture of you with your so-called 'girlfriend'. Or, I should say, lack of girlfriend. They'd be surprised if you did have a partner with you."

"I suppose," Mikey mumbled, lifting his head slightly. "It's just… I'm not looking forward to it."

"I know you aren't," Leo stood up and sat next to his brother, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, "but like Master Splinter says, all things must pass." He sighed at the expression on his brother's face. "So basically, Raph and Don won't use this against you forever and time will pass and this will be soon forgotten."

"Raph will tell every girlfriend I get and it'll make me sound like a big desperate loser," Mikey pulled a strained face, "and no one likes desperate losers. That's why Don gets attached to practically every female we meet. He's desperate to be loved, but everyone just turns their back on him."

"That's because he's a nice person, Mike, not because he's desperate," Leo snapped, though he didn't look too sure. "Anyway, the point is you're going to have to face up to your lie. It's better to get it over with soon, then in many years to come."

"Many years from now sounds good."

"Mikey..." Leo glared at him, though he was relieved Mikey had regained his sense of humour. "Look, I understand completely that you want to avoid your problem… but that doesn't make it go away." The sad edge to the tone of his voice grabbed Michelangelo's attention. He stopped mentally planning his escape to Mexico and gave his brother his full attention.

"Dude, you're saying that from experience, aren't you?" Mikey put his arm around his brother.

"Yes. No." Leo, who had been sitting up straight, leant forwards and rested his elbows on his thighs. He gave his brother a sideways glance. "I don't know. My mind can't really come to any conclusions. I sat in my room for weeks in an attempt to find answers, but I came to nothing."

"Hey, maybe I could help?" Mikey grinned. If he couldn't find a way out of his mess, he thought that he may as well attempt to help his brother.

"Yeah… you're really a reliable psychologist, aren't you?" Leo replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on, I bet a psychologist isn't necessary." Mikey gave Leo a noogie, which caused the eldest brother to complain in protest. Mikey stopped, smiling goofily. "So let everything that's been on your chest for ages escape and reveal itself to the world." Michelangelo raised a fist into the air, bringing his body with it, and struck a heroic pose. He flexed his muscles, his eyes glittering.

"Okay, Armstrong, enough with the posing." Leo grabbed hold of Mikey's leg and pulled the turtle back to his level. "If you want to listen to what I have to say, I want you to take me seriously."

"I am taking this situation seriously!"

"Sure you are." Leo caught sight of the Gameguy in Mikey's hands. He snatched it and put it to one side. "I'm doing this to make you feel better about yourself, not because I really want to. I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. I don't want to say anything twice." After seeing that Mikey was listening, he said, "When I was… possessed a while back, I had… I knew what was happening."

Michelangelo nodded slowly. "Uh huh…" He didn't know if he should say anything, or if he should just remain silent and let his brother continue. He decided on the latter option.

"I kept having these flashes… these visions of what I think happened. Each time I closed my eyes, I entered a kind of theatre and I was forced to watch what I, the alien, was doing." Leo paused, giving Mikey time to take in what he had said. Or, he was waiting for himself to take in what he had said. "And… I saw myself hurting you guys… and I couldn't do anything about it." His face paled, and Mikey could feel the bed trembling. "I wanted to wake up and stop myself from trying to destroy you, but that Yasmin had trapped me within my mind. So I had to watch each of you suffer in my hands."

Michelangelo widened his eyes, his face nearly as pained as his brother's. Leonardo leaned forward more so his forehead was nearly resting on his knees. "And whenever I try to tell you guys what's the matter with me, everything comes flowing back. It's just too hard to forget about it."

Mikey pulled his brother into a hug, rubbing the back of Leo's head. "Dude, you gotta stop bottling your emotions up like that! Raph tries to do that, but it just comes out in uncontrollable bursts. See, that's what's been happening to you."

"I know," Leo moaned, shaking Mikey off him. "I can't help but try to be strong for you guys, and that involves showing as little emotion as possible."

"Emotions don't make you weak, bro. Man, you need to loosen up and live life to the max," Mikey said, moving his arms slowly. "You can't keep letting your pride crush you. Bad things happen."

"But how can I 'loosen up'?" Leonardo asked him sadly. "It doesn't exactly come naturally to me."

Michelangelo thought for a moment, before putting his arm around his brother. He grinned darkly. "Oh, I know a way to do that and it will help me as well. Like Sensei says, hit two birds with one stone." He began to chuckle, which caused Leo to laugh nervously with him.

He didn't like the sound of Mikey's 'plan'.

* * *

**What is Mikey's plan? o.o Well, I know what it is, and there's a good chance you do. If you didn't read It's Within Us All and have no idea what Leo's going on about... he got possessed by the alien from 'Darkness Within' and tried to enslave the world. Not a nice feeling.**

**Oh, and the 'Armstrong' reference was Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist. He strikes awesome poses and sparkles.  
**


	10. The Deal

Leonardo was very confused. His youngest brother had told him that he had a plan to help him stop worrying, but Leo couldn't help but be a little wary. There was a reason why the eldest turtle came up with the majority of their plans and not the youngest brother. However, the reason as to why he was confused was that Michelangelo had told him to get rid of any plans he may have for that evening as they were going to Angel's place during that time.

Leonardo had spent the afternoon trying to get Mikey to tell him what he had planned, but the orange masked turtle refused to say anything. For a while, Donnie and Raph had tried to get the information out of him (despite not knowing what sort of information they were trying to find out about), but the pair had eventually grown tired of Michelangelo's stubbornness. Donatello had declared that he was going to do some research on the laptop and had gone into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. Raphael had grabbed a trench coat from the coat rack and had left the lair without saying where he was going. Master Splinter sat in his armchair, reading an article in the newspaper about the death of one of his favourite actors. He didn't say anything about Donnie isolating himself in his room or Raphael departing from their home without explaining where he was going. Splinter thought that the turtles, now that they were nearing adulthood, needed to have privacy and didn't need to write down every action they planned to do in advance. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but he needed to try to not be overly protective.

They were growing boys, after all.

"Why are we going to see Angel?" Leo asked for the fifth time that hour. He was trying to read his favourite book, 'On the Art of War', but found himself unable to concentrate. Leonardo couldn't keep his mind at ease knowing Mikey had plans for him.

Michelangelo, who was watching 'The Turtle Titan' on the television, rolled his eyes. "Look, you'll like, find out when we get there."

"Patience is a virtue, Leonardo," Splinter replied from behind his newspaper. He turned the page before continuing to read the newspaper.

"Yeah what he said," Mikey said, earning himself a dark look from his brother. "But… uh… we can go now, if you want. Angel's busy preparing-"

"Preparing?" Leonardo repeated suspiciously.

"- But she won't mind if we pop by early," Michelangelo finished. He took a deep breath before handing the TV remote to Master Splinter. "Do… do what you will with it Master. I don't think I'm able to turn my favourite cartoon off. It… it would be too painful."

Master Splinter smiled at his son, putting the TV remote to one side. Although Michelangelo said and did things that he didn't understand the logic of, it more often than not brought a smile onto his aged face. Splinter waited for his eldest and youngest son to leave before he picked up the TV remote and changed the channel to the Discovery Channel.

TMNTNMT

Angel was laying a black low-cut dress on her bed when she heard a quiet tapping sound coming from her window. Having a rough idea who it was, she walked up to her window and opened it. To her surprise, it wasn't Michelangelo and Leonardo, but Raphael. She was happy to see him, mostly because he was one of her closest friends, but she couldn't help but wish that he had chosen a better time to visit.

"Raph!" Angel forced herself to smile at him, moving her body so that she was blocking as much of his view of her bed as possible. "Wow, what a surprise! I didn't expect you to visit right now."

Raphael smirked, perched on her windowsill. "Can I come in? It's freakin' freezin' out here."

"Oh…" Angel looked over her shoulder at her bed, her heart thumping loudly. "I… I have friends coming over soon. It wouldn't be wise to stay for very long."

Raph let himself in anyway, landing heavily on her carpeted flooring. He sniffed, rubbing his beak with the back of his hand. "I didn't know ya had any friends, Angel. Ya used to have the Purple Losers, but then we helped ya get on the right track ages ago. And ya told me dat everyone else still thinks yer weird."

Angel narrowed her eyes at him, her cheeks turning pink. "Yeah, but maybe I made some friends recently. Did it ever occur to you that-" Raph pushed past her and looked at her bed. Various dresses were laid out, and her box of makeup was sitting on top of a thin red cardigan. Raph picked up a pair of black high heels, a strange expression on his face. Angel watched him, unsure what to say.

"You goin' on a date or somethin'?" Raph asked after a few minutes of awkward silence, dropping the shoes onto her fluffy white pillow.

Angel stared at him, speechless. Raphael crossed his arms, waiting for her to say something in reply. Realizing she was expected to explain herself, Angel told him, "I'm just clearing out my stuff. Nan reckons I have too much junk and she wants me to throw some of it out."

"It looks like," Raph said, as though she hasn't said anything, "Yer goin' on a date." He gestured towards her bed. "Ya gonna get all dolled up, are ya? And ya didn't even tell me who the lucky guy was." He smiled at her, but Angel couldn't tell if this was because he was happy or not. The smile seemed too forced to be natural and it sent a wave of dread through her body. Raphael leaned closer to her, opening his mouth wider. "So who is he?"

"No one." Angel stepped backwards. Raphael widened his eyes, grabbing hold of her wrists. He moved his face closer, so they were practically touching. She could smell alcohol in his breath, and the alarm bells in her head began to ring furiously. Angel began to struggle, but the mutant turtle was far more powerful than her and refused to let her break his grip. "Raph, you're drunk."

"I ain't," Raph insisted, letting go of her wrists and stepping backwards. "I ain't-" He bumped into something, knocking him and whatever it was to the ground. However, when he sat up and checked to see what he had crashed into, he discovered it was not a something, but a someone. And he knew perfectly well who this someone was.

"Mikey?" Raphael exclaimed in disbelief, blinking. "Why the shell are ya here?"

Michelangelo must have climbed through the window without him noticing. He blinked a few more times, before a sense of realization dawned onto his face. His eyes darted between Angel and Mikey, his rage building as his eyes flickered between the pair. He stood up. His eyes weren't shooting daggers at his youngest brother…

They were shooting swords.

"I get it now." Raph picked up Mikey, who was too shocked to say anything. "I understand completely." Without any warning, he slammed Michelangelo into the nearest wall. Angel nearly screamed, but then she remembered that her grandmother was sleeping in the room next door. She couldn't risk waking her up.

"Please, Raph." She put her hand on his shoulder. She pleaded, "You need to calm down. You'll wake Nan in a minute, and then you guys are dead."

Raphael dropped Mikey to the ground before rounding on her. Michelangelo rubbed his behind, hoping that his shell wasn't damaged. Raph breathed loudly, his body shaking. "Yer right, I have better things to do than be here. I'll leave ya to have fun on yer date."

He growled, running to the open window before disappearing through it. Angel ran after him, but didn't go further than her window. She sighed, turning back to Mikey.

"Are you okay?" She helped a dazed Mikey to his feet. "Raph didn't mean it. He's drunk."

"Drunk?" Michelangelo repeated, his head spinning from the impact it had had on the wall moments before. "But I thought Sensei banned him from having any alcohol."

"What Master Splinter doesn't know can't hurt him," Angel remarked, repositioning her black high heels so that they were lying against each other. She looked at the open window, before turning her attention back to the orange masked turtle. "Where's Leo?"

"He'll be here in a minute," Mikey grinned at her. "I told him to take a detour. Why was Raph so upset when he thought we were dating?"

The image of Raph confessing an undying love to Angel entered his mind.

"He thinks I'll pick up some loser," she said casually. "He's like a really overprotective father."

"One that lets her drink beer?"

She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. "He takes every bit I have and drinks it so I can't have any. He's a jerk." She didn't sound cross though.

Mikey wondered whether this was why Raph drank as much as he did, or at least contributed towards it. He decided to change the subject. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Yep." Angel returned an equally excited look. "Man, I've always wanted to do this. But I never had the chance… Leo!" She clapped her hands together at the sight of Leonardo, who was carefully climbing through the window. He nodded at her, before seeing what was on her bed.

"Wow," Leo remarked. "You're going on a date or something?"

Angel shook her head, her mouth clamped shut. This didn't stop the giggles from leaking out her lips, unfortunately. Mikey pinched his mouth, his eyes watering from the effort. Leo, puzzled, looked between the pair. Then, he looked at Angel's bed again. Now that he was paying more attention to the items scattered on the piece of furniture, he could see that all the dresses had a large rip at the back. Leonardo transferred his gaze to the pair of giggling teenagers, his stomach dropping to the floor.

"Oh no." Leonardo held up his hands, more scared than disgusted. "Oh no… no no no no no. There is no way I agreed to this."

"Come on." Mikey tilted his head upwards. The lighting was dim and it created a series of shadows on his face, giving him a more sinister appearance. He grabbed a loose dress, its hot pink colour burning Leonardo's eyes. "You want to move on in life, don't you? You want to rise out of the blanket of guilt you've created for yourself, right?"

"But how will this help me?" Leo asked him, not able to take his eyes off the clothes arranged on Angel's bed.

"You have to stop thinking about what's expected of you." Angel picked up her box of makeup. "Look, it's hard to explain this sort of thing, but it'll work. "

"And I'll have a date," Mikey said devilishly. "Look, Leo, doing this will help me and you."

_Mostly me, though, _Mikey mentally added.

Leo crossed his arms, a stubborn look on his face. Angel sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "It's only a little fun. You can't keep moping around in the past. You have to face today and make the most of it. Lighten up a bit, you know?"

Leonardo narrowed his eyes, staring away from them. He tapped his foot against the ground, waiting for one of them to say something else. Michelangelo threw himself forward, skidding across the carpet on his chest. He wrapped his arms around Leo's ankles, before saying, "Please please please Leo you've always been my favourite brother and if you do this for me I will do whatever you want me to do even spar with you and do boring meditation and-" He cringed, jerking his legs. "Ow! I gave myself friction burn!"

"Mikey..." Leonardo lifted his left leg and removed it from his brother's arms. Then, with his right, he shook Michelangelo off. "Is this so important to you?"

Mikey nodded slowly, staring up at his brother with his big blue eyes. Angel watched Leo, unsure of what his next reaction was going to be. Leo sighed. "If I, for some mad reason, was to say 'yes'… what would you be willing to offer me?"

Mikey allowed himself to smile slightly, realizing he still had a chance to persuade his brother. "Whatever you want, bro."

Leonardo helped Mikey to his feet. "Close your eyes."

Michelangelo did so, wondering what his brother was planning on doing. Then, he received a sharp smack on the side of the head.

"Never spy on me again."


	11. The Traitor

** was going to upload this earlier, but I went bulb planting with the Rainbows and Brownies. And coursework and revision postponed this as well. But I did the chapter. :D

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**

"What?" Mikey gasped. He rubbed his head, wincing.

"I said don't do it again," Leo told him. He took his eyes off his younger brother and placed his attention on Angel, who had been watching them anxiously. "Angel, are you sure any of these clothes are going to fit me?"

"Oh!" Angel blinked, picking up the dress closest to her. It was a bright green colour and hung loosely from her small hands. "This one might. I made a hole in the back of it for your shell. I know mutant turtles don't usually wear clothes, but it might help hide your appearance."

"Leo…" Mikey edged towards his brother, an apprehensive expression on his face. "I… how did you know I had been…" He didn't want to say it out loud, but he knew he had to. "… spying on you?"

"I'll tell you later," Leonardo told him, in a tone of voice that clearly showed that the conversation was over. Not that it had really started, of course, but Mikey decided to wait until later.

"Right." Angel placed the dress against Leo's chest, smoothing it out as she held it in place. Leonardo remained still, looking down at it with distaste. "I don't think my stuff's going to fit you. We're just about the same size height-wise, but you're far fa-" She stopped herself just in time. Angel coughed. "I mean, you're far more well-built than me, what with all that training you do."

"Yeah," agreed Leo, "I guess so."

"I'll see if my Nan has anything you can wear," Angel said, tiptoeing out of the room. "She has some really old clothes, and they might fit you."

When Angel had quietly closed the door behind her, Mikey confronted Leonardo. "I know you said you'd tell me later, but I can't wait that long." He clasped Leonardo's hands, squeezing them as he looked sadly into his eyes. "Please tell me how you knew I was with you… did you pretend to not notice me? Was I that loud and clumsy?"

"Mikey, you're automatically assuming that I knew you were there at the time." Leo smiled. "Why are you looking so worried? I'm not going to kill you or anything."

"You whacked me really hard a minute ago," Mikey stated uneasily. "How do I know you're not going to get your katana out and slice me like a loaf of bread?"

"Did I really hit you that hard?"

"Yeah, my bruise has a bruise to prove it," Mikey mumbled.

Leonardo quickly pulled his hands away from Mikey's and looked at the top of his head. "I bruised you? Where?"

"You didn't really." Mikey winked at him. Leo raised his hand, tempted to hit him again. Michelangelo squeaked, ducking away from him. He waited until his brother had lowered his hand before continuing, "So. Tell me how you knew I was there. Did Karai tell you?"

Had she broken the deal she had made with Michelangelo?

"Karai? Why would she know?" asked Leo, puzzled. "She went to find out who had listening in on us and came back saying that they had gotten away before she could see who they were."

"Oh, right." Mikey forced himself to laugh. It seemed like Karai had made a promise that she actually intended on keeping. "I… I just thought that she had spotted me, you know? So… answer the question I asked you earlier."

"What question?"

"How did you know I was spying on- oh…" Mikey smirked, pointing a finger at him. "I see your game. And you're not going to win."

Leo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What game?"

"You listen to me when I say this." Mikey stretched his pointed finger towards Leonardo, but didn't touch him. "I am the unrivalled king of Procrastination and I won't let some amateur like you try to dethrone me, got it?"

Leo blinked a few times, unsure whether to take him seriously or not. "Uh, okay."

Michelangelo cleared his throat louder than necessary, digging into Leonardo's right side with his elbow. Leo jumped. "Okay! Get a hold of yourself, Mikey. I'll tell you. So, I was on my way here, taking an unnecessary detour when this arrow came towards me and nearly struck me on the head."

"An invitation to join the Foot wasn't attached to it, was it," Michelangelo asked him, pretending to be worried, "because if it was, I hope you didn't fill in the application form."

"No." Leo shivered. The memory of being so close to joining the Shredder's alliance still made him sweat. He knew Mikey had meant it in a jokey way, but it still brought back bad memories. Leo continued, more to change the subject than anything else. "Anyway, so like I was saying, I was on my way here when this arrow came out of nowhere. Attached to it, was a note."

"Who was it from?" Mikey asked him, his heart thumping. He knew that if he didn't interrupt, Leo would finish explaining faster but he couldn't help it. Normal mail didn't travel this way. This was what Mikey called 'air mail'.

"I don't know who it was from," admitted Leonardo. He reached into his belt, pulling out a small piece of paper that had been tucked away. He unfolded it, holding it near his face. "But it says that me and Karai were talking above Pete's hamburger bar, and that 'the orange masked turtle' had been present."

"So… you decided to trust a random note that was attached to an arrow… that had been fired at your head like it was a target or something…" Michelangelo scratched his head. "Sorry bro, but you totally lost me."

"And I only know one group of people that communicate in such an original way," Leo said, ignoring him, "and that's the Foot. But who in the Foot would want to tell me that you were spying on me?"

"It doesn't matter." Mikey shrugged. "I just want to know why you believed it in the first place. I mean, it's from the Foot. Why would you even for one teeny tiny second believe what they say?"

Leonardo put his hands behind his shell, shrugging his shoulders. "The Foot aren't as bad as they were before. We're sort of on even terms now, since we teamed up to defeat the Demon Shredder."

"We are?" It didn't seem that way to Michelangelo. A week after the destruction of the Demon Shredder, Raphael and Casey had been ambushed by the Foot while on patrol. A month afterwards, Donatello had been sent a Trojan horse virus. And, when he had obtained the IP address of the sender, he had discovered that the email that had contained the virus originated from Doctor Chaplin. And then there were also the common appearances of damp death threats that found their way into the sewer system. He wasn't sure if Leonardo was simply overlooking this or if he just hadn't noticed. "But I don't get it."

"Get what? Mikey, you have to remember that other people can't read your mind."

"Why are you doing all this for me?" He gestured towards the dresses on Angel's bed. "I mean, this is totally out of character for you. Are you feeling okay Leo? You're actually all right with pretending to be my girlfriend? Even after I completely invaded your privacy?"

"Now that you mention it…" Leo chuckled at the look on his brother's face. "Mikey, you can stop looking like I'm about to go on a murderous rampage. Look, you didn't tell Raph and Don and Sensei that I had gone to see Karai yesterday, and I owe you one for that. I mean, I don't know what would have happened if they found out! Last time, Raph got… well, you remember, don't you?"

"Yeah," Mikey said. Raphael hadn't been pleased with Leo's idea of sneaking out and going to see Karai. "But, Leo, I need to tell you something. I didn't plan on telling them because-" At that moment, Angel entered the room with her arms full of flowery pieces of clothing. She dumped them on the floor in front of Leonardo, but kept hold of one of them. Michelangelo stopped talking, and looked at the… thing that Angel was holding.

It was large, so there was no problem about Leonardo not being able to fit into it. It was also long and Mikey predicted that it would nearly reach Leo's feet. He didn't think much of the colour (a boring, sandy brown colour) but it didn't matter much to him, seeing as Mikey wasn't going to be the one wearing it. Angel put it in Leonardo's hands, whose expression showed that he was thinking the same thing as his brother. "Here, try this on."

"What is it supposed to be?" Leo asked after a few seconds of shocked silence. "Is this actually a dress?"

"I thought it was a potato sack," Mikey commented.

Angel looked at it again, giggling. "Hey, the other stuff I got hold of make this look like a… pretty kimono or something." She picked up a pale flowery dress that was big enough for her to use as a cosy sleeping bag. "You want to wear this?"

"No!" Leo exclaimed, recoiling in horror. Mikey cringed, while Angel reached forward and placed her hands tightly on the blue masked turtle's mouth.

"Sh," Angel hissed, "we don't want Nan to wake up. 'Sides, she's been under the weather lately. But you see my point? This is the most decent piece of clothing that she owns, unless you wanna wear some of her other stuff?"

"I'm good," Leonardo assured her quickly, stuffing himself into the brown dress and falling over in his haste. Mikey helped him up, tugging the dress downwards. When Leo was back on his feet, he looked down at himself. "How do I look?"

"Self conscious about your looks…" Angel winked at him. "You're on your way, Leo, you're on your way." She giggled at the expression on the turtle's face. "Seriously, you look fine! We don't want you flaunting your figure, because then they might tell it's you. Now we've got the outfit, we should work on a name."

"A name, huh?" Mikey rested his chin on Leonardo's shoulders. "We need a good name. How about Michaela? Or… or Monet? Or we could call you…"

"That can be your homework," said Angel, getting her cell phone out and checking the time. "We've wasted enough time, and I'm going out soon to fetch some stuff for Nan. I promised her I'd get her some pills or something."

"So what does Leo do now?" Mikey asked her.

"Yes, what does _Leo _do now?" said Leonardo dryly.

"_Leo _learns the technique of being…" Angel rotated her left hand in a circle. "Uh… Feminine."

"There's a technique?" Leo said disbelievingly.

"Sure there is!" Mikey rolled his eyes. "They have to talk about clothes, what they're doing at the weekend…"

Angel hit him on the head, smirking. "That's what a silly boy would say. There's actually more to it than what you think. Okay, first rule. Posture. Take off that dress."

"But you just told me to put it on!" Leo told her.

"Just take it off. It's not that hard."

"Do I have to?"

"Leo," Mikey smiled, "do you like wearing clothes belonging to older women?"

"Of course not," Leonardo snapped, but he took off the dress nonetheless. Angel circled him, examining him carefully. Leo was facing forward but he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Angel reached under her bed and pulled out a baseball bat. She rested it vertically against his back before pointing it towards the wall opposite them.

"Walk over there," Angel demanded. Leo sighed, before walking to her desired location. "Come back, but try and swing your hips a bit." Leonardo pulled a face, but he did as he was told. Michelangelo bit his tongue, loving the sheer novelty of his oldest brother- his leader- listening and obeying a young human girl.

"That's pretty good!" Angel complimented him. "It's like you've been practicing or something." Leonardo frowned, obviously not taking this as a flattering remark. "Okay, you can put the dress back on now."

"But… but I just took it off," complained Leonardo.

"That was for the last lesson," Angel explained, picking up the dress and putting it back in his hands. "This is the next lesson. Now, I want you to sit down on the edge of my bed."

Leo put the dress back on and sat down on the edge of the bed. Angel shook her head. "No no no. You're doing it all wrong. Look." She tapped his knees with the baseball bat. "Your legs are too spread out. You need to have them next to each other or have one of them crossed over the other."

"Why?" Mikey asked her curiously.

"Because… because it looks nicer," Angel groaned. "It's because of body language, but we'll go over that tomorrow. Now we have a few minutes, so we'll just quickly go over what you've learned today. Leo, what did you learn?"

"Uh…" Leonardo looked to Mikey for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders. Leo sighed. "Cross your legs over one another when you're sitting… try to dislocate your hips while you walk…"

"Good enough." Angel began jogging slightly, her eyes resting anxiously on her cell phone's screen. "Remember, I want you to think of a name by the time we meet up next. How about… a bit after lunch? Class is dismissed."

"Sounds like a plan." Mikey smiled. Leonardo nodded, pulling the dress over his head. Then, the two turtles left through her window and into the darkness of the night.


	12. The Morning

**Yay... another chapter. Don't worry, Donnie and Raphie have bigger parts to play too. ;D I love all the turtles... Maybe not Venus though.

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**

Master Splinter didn't know what to do.

That morning had been very confusing. First of all, Leonardo had nearly been late for their morning meditation session. When asked why, Leo had mumbled something about 'beauty sleep', or words to that effect. Then, he had quickly said that he had been under the weather recently (which Splinter accepted as being true), and Angel had suggested that he got more sleep. 'Sleep can do wonders', Leonardo had quoted to him. Master Splinter thought nothing more of his eldest son's odd behaviour until the end of the morning meditation session, when Leo had headed towards the door.

"Leonardo?" Splinter called after him.

"Yes Master?" Leo stopped walking, turning around to face his sensei.

"Have you injured yourself recently?"

"No Master Splinter. Why?"

Splinter narrowed his eyes, puzzled, "You are walking in an unusual way. Have you dislocated one of your hips? Because if you have, I suggest seeing Donatello. He would be able to put it back into place for you."

"Oh," Leonardo shrugged, backing away. "I'm just… giving it some exercise. I've been neglecting my training for a while, so I'm trying to… prepare myself. I don't want to hurt myself during our next session due to lack of training." He closed the door quietly behind him.

Master Splinter didn't question this either. Leonardo _had _been off training for a few weeks, and had only recently started joining in. He decided to drop it, and went to have his breakfast.

The morning, it appeared, didn't want to give up confusing him. Master Splinter sat down, and found Michelangelo serving breakfast. Mikey didn't need to be up for another two hours. Splinter sat down at the table, watching his youngest son as he served him a bowl of muesli.

"Voila, Master Splinter!" Mikey licked his fingers, grinning. "Le breakfast is served." He bowed, his toque falling off his head.

"Thank you, Michelangelo," Master Splinter sipped his glass of orange juice, which had been waiting for him on the table when he had arrived. "I believe that you have learned to get up at an acceptable time now."

"Sorta," Mikey sat down opposite his master, pouring himself a bowl of cornflakes. "Me and Leo are going out in half an hour, so I figured that we have an early breakfast."

Master Splinter nodded slowly, "And where is your brother?"

"He already had his breakfast, so he's over at Angel's place," Mikey picked up his bowl, and began pouring the contents down his throat. "Amfall ermph frat thee hack-" he began coughing violently, lumps of soggy cereal hitting the table like bullets. Master Splinter got up and went behind him, before patting him on the back. Michelangelo gulped, gasping for breath.

"Steady, Michelangelo," Master Splinter gave Mikey his glass of orange juice, and gently tipped the juice into his mouth. "Now, could you please repeat what you just said?"

Mikey gulped, "I said, Angel said that she had a surprise waiting for me at her place, and-"

"And you are as eager to find out as usual," Master Splinter finished for him. He sighed, gesturing towards the door, "Be sure to be back at seven, as that is when your morning session starts."

"Oh come on," Mikey groaned, moving his shoulders forwards and slouching, "How many more of these do I have to go to? I've learned my lesson; early bird captures the worm. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a turtle healthy, wealthy and wise. Wake up first, get out of bed, don't watch the news but Justice Force instead. Get up quick, so you won't be sick. If you-"

"Michelangelo, I do not care how many quotes you can recite off the top of your head. You will attend until I say you do not need to," Master Splinter went to the kettle, and began to examine it closely. "Now, how does one turn this on?"

"Don will be up soon," Mikey told him, beginning to leave the room, "He'll explain how to work it." Why should Mikey tell him, when Master Splinter forced him to go to boring morning lessons with no reasoning behind them? Michelangelo walked out of the room. He felt a little guilty for speaking to Master Splinter in such a harsh tone, so he added, "Seven, got it."

***

Michelangelo knocked on Angel's door, adjusting the large floppy hat he was wearing. Normally, he would have snuck in through the window, but there were people up and about around him. Somehow, he didn't think that a small man in an oversized coat climbing through a window wouldn't look suspicious. He hoped that Angel would answer the door, and not her grandmother. He hadn't met Angel's Nan before and had nothing against her, but he thought it would be less awkward if Angel answered the door.

The front door opened, and to Mikey's relief he found himself face-to-face with Angel. Michelangelo waved, lifting his hat slightly so she could see who he was, "Hi Angel. How's our little test subject doing?" He tried to get past her and inside, but Angel moved and blocked his way.

"Mikey," said Angel, "Come closer. I want to tell you something."

"Can't I come in?" asked Michelangelo, "It's kinda cold outside."

"I need to tell you something important first."

Mikey looked over his shoulder, "Why can't I come in and _then _you tell me? Unless you want half the street listening in on you?"

Angel looked over his shoulder and followed his gaze. The half a dozen people who had stopped to listen to their conversation quickly averted their eyes, and continued on their way.

"Fine," Angel stepped to the side and let him in. As soon as his short tail was safely in her house, Angel closed the door and locked it.

"What, have burglars been hitting your neighbourhood or something?" he smiled faintly.

"YOU!" Angel slapped his right cheek. Mikey stumbled backwards, tripping over a loose part of the carpet. He landed on his shell, his head hitting against the floor. He sat up, confused.

"What's your problem?" Mikey asked her, rubbing his sore head. "Or has slapping people become the new way of greeting people?"

"I can't believe you!" Angel told him angrily, "I just can't believe you." She didn't wait for Mikey to ask her what she was talking about. "I asked Leo why he was really going along with this. I mean, yeah it'll help him not take himself so seriously, and maybe lighten him up and such. But cross-dressing? Oh... I think I know the main reason now."

"The main reason?" Michelangelo had the feeling that there had been some form of misunderstanding. He couldn't think of a reason that deserved a slap in the face.

"You spied on him," Angel pointed at him, "And he doesn't want you to tell the others what he was doing. You blackmailed him into this."

"What?" gasped Mikey, "No I didn't! I wouldn't have told Master Splinter and co anyway. I told-" He had promised Karai that he wouldn't tell anyone what he had witnessed. They hadn't agreed on not telling anyone about the deal they had made. "-Karai that I wouldn't tell anyone about her and Leo meeting up. No blackmailing involved."

Angel's face relaxed slightly, "Really?"

"Turtle's honour," Mikey told her, tapping his chest.

"Oh," Angel blushed, "Sorry for… uh, hitting you like that. Um, does it hurt?"

"No," lied Mikey, his cheek still throbbing, "Not at all. So, uh, how's your grandma doing? She'll probably be wondering what all the shouting was."

"She's not in," Angel told him, trying to sound casual but it was obvious that she was nervous. "Let's go see Leo. I wanna show you what we've worked on so far."

They climbed the stairs, Mikey's mind thinking about Angel's reaction when he mentioned her Nan. Why did Angel sound so worried when he asked her about her grandmother?

"Earth to Mikey," Angel tapped him on the head, like she was knocking on a door. "I present to you, your date."

She opened the door, and Mikey nearly had a heart attack. If he hadn't been warned in advance, he would have thought there was a fifth mutant turtle. Leonardo was sitting on the edge of Angel's bed, wearing the potato sack-like dress from yesterday. Yet yesterday, it had _looked _like a potato sack. Now, it actually resembled a dress. Leonardo looked up when Mikey entered, smiling very slightly. "How do I look?"

"How did you lose so much weight?" Michelangelo asked him, going up to Leo and poking his side. "Your figure's like, completely changed overnight."

Angel winked at him, "I got of hold of these tight scraps of material last night, when I was getting some medication for my N-Nan. It… if you look," she crouched beside Leonardo and pulled up the bottom of the brown material. On his legs were two shiny black leg warmers. Angel pulled at one of them, before releasing it and letting it ping back into place. She stood up, facing Mikey. While Leo cringed, she said, "I put a pair of them on his arms, and one around his body. Man, you don't know how awkward shells are!"

"You get used to them when they're stuck to your back," Michelangelo told her, grinning. "So, am I in time to see the next lesson? How has my son been doing in his cross-dressing classes?"

"Son?" Leonardo repeated.

"Oh," Angel said, trying to sound posh, "He has been doing marvellously, Mr Splinter-son. His form is wonderful, and he walks just like a real lady. We're going to be working on voice, now."

"Splendid!" Mikey shook her hand, "Spiffing, absolutely spiffing. I will just sit down and observe his progress, okay?"

"Jolly good," Angel told him, "I think that can be arranged."

"Is this a game to you?" Leo asked them, "And why are you trying to sound British?"

"Oh, of course not," Angel cleared her throat, pulling her hands out of Michelangelo's. "Let's get started then, shall we? Now, say something."

"Say what?"

"Great," said Angel, "Now, of course your voice is far too low to be acceptable as a female voice. But I'm sure you can talk in a higher pitch."

"My voice doesn't go much higher," Leonardo told her.

"Really?" Angel tilted her head to one side, "Odd. Raph, Mikey and Casey told me that you have a really girlish scream."

Mikey burst out laughing.

"… Nearly as girly as Mikey's scream..."

Mikey ceased his laughter at once.

"… So it shouldn't be too hard for you," Angel finished.

"Come on," Mikey nudged Leo, "Your Fugitoid impersonation is hilarious. I bet if you put your mind to it, you could sound like a woman." The last sentence sounded so strange that Mikey couldn't help but burst out laughing. Angel giggled too, wiping her eyes. Leo groaned, though he had a microscopic smile on his face.

"You'll have to practice anyway," Angel said, "We don't want Mikey to burst out laughing when the time actually comes. Which is actually like, tomorrow afternoon or something."

"The Fugitoid is a robot who's got the mind of a male scientist," Leonardo stated, "And I fooled a ___Triceraton _with a bad impersonation. A Triceraton. That doesn't prove anything."

"It does," Angel told him, "It means you can fool an idiot without having had any previous training. Okay, we'll practice later. So, did you think of a good name?"

Ah. Mikey knew he had forgotten something. Leo shook his head, "Not really, but when I get home I'll look into some books and try to find something. What about you, Mikey? Did you think of any good names?"

"Uh…" Mikey saw Angel's watch, "It's quarter to seven already? Sensei's gonna have my shell if I'm late!" He slapped his head, realizing he wasn't wearing his hat. "Where's my hat? WHERE THE SHELL IS MY HAT?"

"Downstairs," Angel told him, pushing Mikey towards her bedroom door. "I think I knocked it off you when I slapped you earlier."

"You slapped him? Why?" Leo asked.

Angel grabbed hold of Leonardo's dress, and began to pull it over his head. "Questions later. You go with home with him and find a good name. And… come back after lunch. We'll work on your voice then, okay? Class dismissed. Have fun at recess."

She put the brown dress and the scrap black material into one of her drawers as the two turtles left. Then, she picked up a photograph of her and her grandmother, who were smiling at the photographer (who had been Casey, if Angel remembered correctly). "Oh Nan…" she whispered, circling the grandmother with her finger.

***

"I'm back!" announced Michelangelo, raising his arms above his head as though expecting applause. Leonardo sighed, following him in. "The Mikester is in the building!"

"You are late," Master Splinter commented from the armchair.

"What?" Mikey's smile vanished. He wasn't late… Was he? He looked at the clock on the wall. It said it was exactly seven o'clock. He told his Sensei this, using unnecessary arm gestures.

"You were thirty-seven seconds late," Splinter told him, getting to his feet.

"Thirty-seven seconds is practically nothing," Mikey complained, "Not much can happen in thirty-seven seconds."

"A lot can happen," Splinter told him. "Michelangelo, tell me, why am I giving you these lessons?"

"Because I kept oversleeping? Emphasis on the kept, which is in past tense," said Mikey.

"Yes, and also tell me the consequence of you oversleeping?"

"Because I kept being late for our morning training sessions?" guessed Mikey.

"Exactly. Small habits can grow very quickly, and it is best if they are dealt with before they can escalate into something too big to contain," Master Splinter gestured towards the sofa, which was facing an unplugged television. "Seat yourself."

Michelangelo sighed, but did as he was told.


	13. The Absences

**Thanks for the reviews, etc. Now, on with the show... I mean, fanfiction.

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**"Michelangelo, you seem to be under the impression that thirty-seven seconds is not important, and cannot make a difference," Master Splinter stated, standing in front of Michelangelo.

"I didn't really say that," Mikey mumbled. He could feel Leonardo watching him from the armchair, which made him feel less comfortable than he already was. He was supposedly reading a book, but when Mikey looked up he saw Leo peaking over the top of his novel. Their eyes met for a split second, before Leonardo ducked his head. Michelangelo sighed, turning to his master. "I just meant that being thirty-seven seconds late isn't very serious."

"I see," Splinter said, "So if one of your brothers was in serious danger, arriving thirty-seven seconds later than possible would not make a difference?"

"Uh…" Mikey shook his head slowly, "I guess it's important… But being thirty-seven seconds late for something like an extra lesson… It doesn't matter then, does it? I mean, how much can you learn in thirty-seven seconds?"

He immediately knew he had said the wrong thing, but as usual it was too late for Mikey to explain himself. Master Splinter gave him a stern look, "Knowledge is not restricted to time, my son. It has no limits. You cannot place a deadline on education. There is always time for learning."

"Hey, you're right!" Mikey declared, "Completely and utterly right. Hey, now that I've learned today's lesson, does that mean this class is over?"

"Michelangelo," Splinter frowned at him, though his eyes were twinkling slightly. "You never cease to amaze me. However, that was not the lesson's objective. I merely asked you a question. You remember the 'art' you made yesterday?"

"Oh yeah," Mikey nodded, "Why?" Splinter stepped to the side, revealing the strangely shaped lump of clay from yesterday. Leo peered at it, both puzzled and startled. He tilted his head to one side, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. Mikey reddened slightly, before turning to his eldest brother. "Hey, I'd like to see you do better."

"Michelangelo," Splinter snapped, "You must learn to ignore all distractions."

"But this distraction is very nosy. And annoying," Mikey whined.

"And is this distraction of yours busy tomorrow?" Leonardo asked him.

"Um… I mean," Mikey stood up and began pushing the clay with his fingers, "I'm on it."

"Michelangelo, you will not be working on it today," announced Splinter, after watching him for a minute or so.

Mikey boggled his eyes at his sensei, "But… But the thing I made… you told me to… to work on it."

Master Splinter smiled slightly, raising one eyebrow. "I don't recall saying such a thing."

"But you… But I…" Mikey said, flustered. He groaned, pushing the former day's creation away from him.

"My son," Master Splinter clapped his hands together, before gesturing towards the fresh lumps of clay sitting motionlessly next to the clay Mikey had used yesterday. "Some things you cannot change. Words cannot be unspoken, and actions cannot be undone."

"But if I was to hit someone, like this," Mikey asked him, demonstrating on Leonardo. "My action can be undone, right? Nothing permanent has happened, right? Right?"

"I wouldn't worry so much about me," commented Leo darkly, rubbing his arm.

"Unpunch him then, Michelangelo," replied Splinter, tapping his fingers against the top of his walking stick.

"What?" Mikey gaped at him.

"It is not 'what', it is 'pardon'. And to answer your query, I said that I want you to take back that punch you gave Leonardo."

"But I can't do _that,_" Mikey told him, "Okay, maybe that was a bad example. But what if I was to do this?" He lifted a cushion off the sofa, before placing it back down. "See? That action was undone."

Leonardo glared at him, barely believing his brother had the nerve to question one of Master Splinter's lessons. Yes, Leo did it on occasion, but he didn't question his Master to solely prove he was _wrong._

Master Splinter chuckled, "Michelangelo, your antics always astound me. Yes, but the action was still made, was it not? What you did was build upon your original action. You did not make the action never happen; you corrected it."

"Oh great," Mikey said, "Hey, now I've learned today's lesson, can I go now?"

"That was not the lesson's objective," Splinter told him, "I merely stated a fact, and you decided to elaborate on it."

Michelangelo groaned, "Shell, Sensei. Have I done something wrong or what?"

"You must learn to listen carefully to the instructions you are given," Master Splinter told him, "Or, the lack of them."

"Okay," Mikey nodded fiercely in agreement. "Now is my lesson finished?"

"I want you to make something from the fresh clay I have gotten you," Splinter told him, flicking his tail towards the tray. "And remember what I said yesterday. I wish to see improvement."

***

Mikey sighed, walking into the bathroom with a towel. He was covered in clay, both from using it and cleaning it up. He couldn't help it if he had gotten enthusiastic about something creative. Master Splinter should have been pleased that Mikey was actually attempting the lesson, and not have gotten mad when he stepped in a tiny bit of wet clay that had accidentally fallen onto the carpet. Honestly, there was no pleasing his master.

Mikey came to a stop in front of the shower stall, dropping his towel on the floor next to it. They were required to shower a lot more frequently ever since they started making regular contact with humans. Well, Leonardo and Donatello washed a lot regardless if they planned on going out or not, and Raphael always made sure he didn't smell like the sewers they lived in. Mikey sighed, taking hold of the showerhead. He turned the water on. It was icy cold. He removed his hand, and waited for the water to get warmer.

Mikey began whistling, tapping his foot at a steady beat. Casually, he looked at the mirror hanging on the wall. He smirked at his reflection, "Who's all smug now?"

He placed his hand under the running water again. It was cold, but it wasn't as freezing as it was before. He propped it back on the wall, and stepped into the downpour. The steel flooring was cold against his bare feet, but he didn't mind. He wanted to get as clean as possible in ten minutes. Then, he would have enough time to dry himself, and he would be five minutes early for morning training. It made him sound like an eager teacher's pet, but if he could prove to his master that he wasn't late for his lessons anymore… he might be allowed to drop his extra sessions.

When he was completely washed (or as washed as one can get in nine and a half minutes), Mikey picked up the towel and began to rub himself dry. He sighed, holding the damp towel at an arm's length. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to have left the towel so close to the shower stall. Still, he didn't really think it was his fault. He couldn't help it if he was so messy at getting clean. The water just liked to spray outwards and land on the tiled flooring.

Michelangelo assured himself that he would dry during his lesson, because he would be moving around a lot. He put on his pads, and tied his mask onto his head. Then, Mikey scrunched up his towel into a ball, before throwing it over his shoulder. It landed neatly in the laundry basket. Mikey jumped and punched the air in triumph, prior to striding towards the training room.

Leonardo was already there, talking politely with his master. Mikey paused outside the door, that had left slightly ajar, and rested his head against the edge of the door.

"Leonardo, you do not understand how pleased I am of the change in you," Master Splinter stated warmly, "And it is very generous of you to spend more time with Michelangelo."

"It's nothing, Sensei," Leo sounded embarrassed, "I've just moved on. And I… figured that Mikey would be feeling left out, now Don and Raph are busy with other things."

"Yes…" Master Splinter muttered, suspicious, "I have noticed that. I do not see them as often as usual. Would you happen to know why?"

Mikey's heart began to beat against his chest loudly. In fact, he thought it was so loud that he was surprised the others hadn't heard his presence. After what seemed like a few hours, Leonardo replied innocently, "No, Sensei. Not really. I think Don's working on something on his laptop, and Raph's probably frustrated that the Foot and the Purple Dragons are keeping a low profile. He's most likely going out, trying to find an excuse to fight them. I don't think it's anything worth worrying about."

Mikey smiled slightly. His brother, despite his tendency to be unnecessarily nosy, could be very ignorant sometimes.

"But they are more distant than usual," Splinter persisted. He was trying to badger as much information out of his eldest son as he could, Mikey observed. Leo would tell him anything if Splinter tried hard enough.

"I hadn't really noticed," Leonardo told his sensei truthfully.

_He wouldn't if he had only started coming out of his room for a few days, _Mikey thought bitterly.

"But, do you want me to check on them and see if they are alright?"

Mikey pictured his master shaking his head, "No, no. If there is anything bothering them, I am sure that they will come to me and seek help. We shouldn't intervene unless it is dangerous and is affecting them in a harmful way."

Mikey would have stayed listening in for longer, if he hadn't remembered what Leonardo had said to him. _Never spy on me again. _Michelangelo sighed. Making promises sucked. Though, when he remembered Leo's part of the deal, he decided that they weren't too bad. Mikey tiptoed to the door leading to the bathroom. Then, he stamped towards the training room, pushing the door open so hard that it banged against the wall. Leonardo jumped, whipping his head towards the source of the noise. Splinter didn't even flinch.

"Hi Leo, hi Sensei!" Mikey waved to them. "I thought I heard you guys talking or something."

"It wasn't about anything that concerns you, Michelangelo," said Splinter. Leonardo looked conceited as he knelt down in front of their master. Mikey chortled under his breath as he settled himself next to his brother. Master Splinter glanced over them at the door, sighing. "Where have your brothers gotten to? It isn't like them to be late for a sparring session."

"Yeah," Mikey said, "I know Don's a pussy fist-"

"A pacifist," Master Splinter corrected him, "And your brother just prefers to overcome problems with brain rather than brawn."

"Sure, but he wouldn't be late for a lesson. He hasn't got the guts. And," Mikey leant backwards, transferring his weight to his hands that were now placed behind him, "Raph loves training. It's his way of expressing himself. 'Cos, you know…" He lowered his voice, "He isn't smart enough to use English very well."

"I could go get them, if you wish," offered Leonardo.

"That won't be necessary," said Splinter, "We may as well start without them. I'm sure they will be here in a moment. Now, please run three laps of the room to prepare yourselves. Then, we'll get started on some dodging."

"Dodging?" Leo said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I was hoping we were going to move onto something else."

"You are still young, Leonardo," chuckled Master Splinter, "You have the rest of your life to learn."

"Yeah, you can't place a deadline on education," Mikey told him, "There is always time for learning. Come on, I bet you can't beat my record."

"You keep thinking that," Leo grinned.

"I will," Mikey winked at him. "Are you ready to eat my dust?"

"It isn't a race," Splinter told the two of them. "It is just an exercise to warm up."

"We know, Master," said Leonardo as Michelangelo spat on his hands and rubbed them together, "But it makes Mikey try. Anyway, I wouldn't say it was a competition." He crouched next to eager brother, bobbing up and down slightly on his toes. "We'll start on three. One… Two…" Michelangelo sped off, cackling.

"Hey, no head starts!" Leo called after him indignantly, chasing after his brother. Splinter tried to focus on his sons as they competed playfully with one another, but he couldn't help but rest his eyes on the closed door. He didn't notice that he had zoned out until his sons' bickering managed to penetrate his thoughts.

"Dumb luck," Mikey declared, crossing his arms. "Dumb as Casey luck."

"How was me winning dumb luck?" Leo asked him, "You even got a head start."

"Yeah, but I tripped over," Michelangelo countered, "I would have won my miles if I hadn't tripped over."

"The floor's not that slippery," Leonardo rubbed his foot against the ground, "See? Plenty of grip. If you fell over, then you should have been more careful."

"I was careful," Mikey told him, "My feet are still wet from my shower. And before you say anything, I didn't have time to dry. I showered as fast as I could, and came straight here."

"I thought you said that this was not a competition," Splinter remarked, coming back to his senses. "Unless my ears are playing tricks on me."

"You're right," said Leo, "Uh, so shall we start the lesson?"

"We may as well," Splinter told him, "Michelangelo, I would like you to try and strike Leonardo. Leonardo will try and dodge you. Then, you will swap roles."

Mikey, who was used to having Donatello as his partner in training, stared at his master in horror. It wasn't as bad as having Raphael as a partner, he admitted that. Raph had a habit of getting carried away and actually hurting his partner, so Leo often volunteered to pair up with him. Heck, Splinter always paired them up with each other. Leo was their _leader_. Mikey was referred to as the comic relief of the team. "Uh… I think Leo should go and get them. I mean, you don't want them missing out on this learning experience, do you?"

"They will come when they are ready," Splinter said, "Now, face each other and bow."

It was going to be a long, hard lesson.


	14. The Yearning

**I played Turtles in Time earlier. I got to the last level but then my mother turned the TV off. :(**

* * *

Michelangelo groaned, leaning against the cool white wall of the training room. Then, he slowly dropped to his knees, panting. His arms ached. His legs ached. Even his shell ached. Leonardo was standing next to him, acting like he wasn't out of breath. But Mikey could see the sweat on his brother's forehead and the way his back was overly curved. Splinter was gazing at them, letting them have a temporary rest from their session. Usually, when all four turtles were present, two of them would sit out and watch the other two turtles perform the session's exercise. Then, the two who had been watching would evaluate how well the others did before swapping roles. However, because only half of them were there, they had done a lot more work than usual.

Michelangelo hadn't minded dodging. He was naturally athletic, and was very able at moving out of the way. Generally, when it came to this sort of thing, his ability would rival his eldest brother's. Mikey could dodge out of the way of Leo when he set his mind to it. But Mikey found himself unable to concentrate today. His sensei tried to pay attention to his sons, but Mikey sometimes saw his eyes flickering towards the door. And when Mikey saw him do that, his eyes would follow his gaze and he would be watching the door too. At first, Leonardo would seize this opportunity to whack him on the head and tell him to watch his back. After fifteen minutes of this, Leo gave up and waited until Mikey realized that he had zoned out.

An observation that Mikey made was that although he avoided his brother's attacks most of the time, the times when he did get struck he often paused, which allowed his brother to hit him twice. When they swapped responsibilities, Mikey managed to hit Leo a fair few times, but his brother was unfazed by his hits and didn't flinch.

"Can't we just like, call it a day?" Mikey asked, his hand on his plastron. He groaned, "My stitches have got stitches."

"It's only the morning," Leo told him, "We have the whole day left, and you're already tired?"

"Okay Mr Optimistic, why don't we have another go at dodging?" said Mikey, playing bluff.

"Sure," Leo went back onto the mat in the centre of the room. "Let's go! I'm ready!"

"No, I think we will do what Mikey says and 'call it a day'. We do not want to overwork you." Splinter sighed, "I am rather disappointed that your brothers missed this lesson."

"Yes, you give away a lot of your time training us and preparing us for battle, and they wasted it," nodded Leo, fiercely in agreement.

"And this is coming from the turtle that didn't come to training for weeks," Mikey remarked.

Leonardo either didn't hear him, or he decided to ignore him. Michelangelo suspected that it was the latter. "It's their loss, Sensei. If they don't want to come, then they don't have to come. They'll just be missing out."

"Yes, Leonardo, but I cannot just turn a blind eye to this. Before, I let you off these sessions to allow you to recover from our last battle. You were in a bad shape, both physically and mentally. You would not have benefited from the lessons. However, I see nothing wrong with Donatello and Raphael, and they are required to be present. You all need to keep in shape and you all still have a lot to learn." He headed towards the door, "I will go and check on them. They may be ill."

"I'll go check on them!" Mikey said quickly, getting to the door before his master.

"No, Michelangelo, I can check on them myself," Splinter sidestepped, but Mikey quickly blocked him from passing. "Michelangelo, please let me pass."

"Really, Master Splinter, I'll go see what's bothering them. I have like…" he got out his shell cell and checked the time. "Another two hours before Angel's expecting me and Leo."

"That will not be necessary," Splinter told him. "Now please let me through. I want to go and speak with them."

Mikey wasn't sure that this would be wise. What if Raphael had a hangover or something similar? He had been out of it last night, and who was to say he hadn't gone and gotten even more drunk afterwards? Michelangelo felt slightly guilty, because he had given his brother the wrong impression last night in regards to his and Angel's relationship, which had provoked his brother. _Not like there actually is any relationship, _Mikey thought to himself. But if Splinter came in and saw that Raph was in a bad state, he would punish Raph. And then Raphael would punish Mikey, because he would think that Mikey told their master about last night even though he didn't. Then Master Splinter would punish Raph for beating up Mikey, and then Raph would get even angrier at Mikey… It was like this circle that involved him getting beaten up a lot. For some reason, Mikey didn't want this to happen.

"Michelangelo, is there something that I ought to know?" Splinter raised his eyebrows, his eyes suspicious.

"No…" Mikey said slowly, "I… I just want to…" He knew it was pointless. If he tried to lie, he knew Splinter would catch him out. And he knew that Master Splinter disapproved of lying greatly, and from past experience he knew that Splinter had harsh punishments for it. And, if Mikey explained to him the circle of pain, he would either be deemed mad or a telltale. If you were Leo, it didn't matter because he was able to stand up for himself. But if you were one of the others, it was likely that your brothers would gang up on you for being a grass. He sighed, "Never mind. Raph would probably tell me to get lost for waking him up."

He waited until Master Splinter had left the room, before checking where his father was going to first. His master reached the door of Raphael's room, before knocking and entering. Mikey darted out of the training room. If he couldn't alert Raph, then he would have to warn Donnie in advance instead. He was pretty close to Donatello, and he didn't want him to get into trouble.

"Hey Mike, where are you going?" Leo asked.

"I need to see Don," Mikey told him, opening the door of Donatello's room. "You go over to Angel's without me."

"But she told us to wait until after lunch," said Leo, "We've got about two hours before lunch even starts."

"She won't mind. I'll catch up with you," said Mikey impatiently, "I, uh, broke my shell cell last night, and I think Don spent the night trying to fix it. I really want it back."

"Fine," Leo walked to the door leading out of the lair, "But if Angel gets mad, I'm going to tell her who she can direct her rage at. Don't leave me for too long."

"I'll only be a moment. I just want to wake him up," Mikey assured Leonardo's retreating back. He dreaded the day Leo became as good at sniffing out lies as their master. Mikey didn't bother knocking on his brother's door before entering. There were only so many things that you could discuss with Raphael, especially if he was in a bad or tired mood. Mikey didn't want to wait for Don to let him in. Besides, he knew how much of a heavy sleeper his brother was.

Unsurprisingly, Donatello was at his desk. He was using his computer's keyboard as a pillow, snoring quietly. Mikey suspected that his brother was going to have a strange series of imprints across his cheek when he woke up. He shook Don's arm roughly. "Hey, bro, rise and shine."

Donatello gasped, raising his head slightly. He turned to Mikey, blinking sleepily. Just as Mikey had predicted, he had square shapes on one half of his face. "Mike? Why are you here? Is it morning already?"

"What, you think I'd wake you up in the middle of the night?"

"You've done it before, Mikey. Remember last month?"

"Yeah, but that was because I thought we were being invaded by angry ghosts," replied Michelangelo. "April should tell us she's going to dress like a clown before wandering around our place in the middle of the night."

"You should have gone to bed with the rest of us, instead of playing Silent Hill. Besides, she wasn't attempting to be a clown; she was wearing some face cream."

"In the middle of the night?"

"It was the type that you wear overnight, when you're in bed."

"But April wasn't in bed."

"April was just getting a glass of water."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" chortled Mikey.

"Yes, I would, because you woke us all up at one in the morning with your screaming. However, I don't think that you came here to discuss otherworldly circus performers with me… What do you want, Mikey?"

"Oh yeah," Mikey slapped his forehead, "I nearly forgot! Well, you know that it's late in the morning?"

"Define 'late in the morning for me'," he sighed at the expression on his brother's face, "What time is it?"

"About… I dunno… Half ten or so?" Mikey shrugged, "Basically, you missed morning training."

Don's face paled. He gulped, "Really? I really overslept then… Shell… Is Sensei furious with me?"

"Nah, he's just worried," Mikey settled himself on the edge of Don's desk, his legs hanging over the sides. "He thinks you and Raph are suffering from a fatal disease, and that's why you missed today's session. He's going to come here when he's finished questioning Raph."

"So you came here to prepare me in advance?" Donnie smiled warmly at Mikey, "Wow, thanks. However, I don't quite know how that's going to help me. I don't really have any excuse except that I was up most of the night, and I fell asleep at my desk."

"Oh, um, what were you doing last night anyway?" Mikey asked casually. He had a very good idea what Donnie was doing, but he wanted the answer to come from his brother's mouth. Besides, he wanted to see him squirm a bit.

Don shrugged, "Oh… Nothing much. I was just browsing the internet."

"For what?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"General stuff."

"Anything in particular?"

"Not really."

"Give me an example."

Don began massaging his temples, "You can be very persistent and nosey, you know that? I don't ask you to give your day-to-day schedule."

Mikey winked at him, "I like to think of it as curious. And I can tell you about the typical day of Mike. I get up really early in the morning, I go have my breakfast, I have a quick shower, I-"

"Hey, I said I don't ask you to recite your day's plan to me. When did I phrase anything that sounded remotely like 'Tell me what you do everyday'?" Don rested his hands on his chin, looking at Mikey out of the corner of his eye. "You don't need to know what I was doing. You'd probably laugh if I told you."

"I wouldn't laugh unless it was something weird," assured Mikey. "Like… were you on an anime forum?"

Don shook his head.

"Were you on a science forum?"

Don shook his head, before furrowing his brow. "How is that weird?"

"Never mind. Uh, if it wasn't any of those stuff, then I won't laugh," Mikey told him. "Come on, bro, just spit it out. It's not like you were looking at anything you're not supposed to look at."

"You could say that I'm not supposed to be looking," Don looked at him sadly, "Okay, but you're not allowed to tell anyone… I'm… trying to find some form of contact with Betty. There, go ahead and laugh."

"I'm not laughing," stated Mikey. He put his hand on Don's shoulder, "Hey, why'd you think that you're not meant to find her again?"

"Because she doesn't want to know us anymore," Don explained. He wiggled his computer's mouse, bringing his computer out of its screensaver. "I know it's so stupid, but… she didn't even say goodbye properly. Remember when we met Jhanna... when we went camping near the farmhouse? She didn't wake me up the night she left, so I didn't get to say any parting words to her. Do you know how hard that was for me? I don't want to go through that again."

"Come on, Don," Mikey nudged him. "You shouldn't worry about it. It's not you that's missing out. It's her. If she doesn't want to be friends with us anymore, then I think you should just move on."

"I guess…" mumbled Don, "But I can't help but wonder-"

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go and see Angel," Mikey went to leave the room. He turned the door knob and pulled open the door to find himself in front of Master Splinter. Mikey jumped backwards, lifting one leg defensively. "Ah! Do you have to like, stand there like that?"

"Michelangelo, I am perfectly entitled to see why one of my sons did not turn up at morning training," Splinter told him. He transferred his gaze to Don. "Donatello, would you care to explain to me why you did not come today?"

Don started to say something, but Mikey spoke over him loudly. "He spent all night repairing my shell cell. I sort of broke it last night when I couldn't get a connection. But he fixed it, see?" Mikey held up his shell cell, which was fine except for a few scratches and dents. He smiled, showing all of his teeth as he edged around his master. "I just came here to fetch it. Now that it's repaired and stuff, I'm going to go and see if Angel-"

With one brief movement, Splinter was holding Mikey's shell cell. He narrowed his eyes at his youngest son. "So you are telling me that you caused Donatello to not have enough rest because you broke this?"

"Yeah, I'm such a mean brother," Mikey commented, "I'll see you guys at lunch, okay?"

"Michelangelo, I don't know where you found the nerve to lie in my face, but rest assured that it has not gone unnoticed," said Splinter angrily.

"Lying? What?" Mikey blinked. Had his lie seriously been that obviously bad?

"I raised the four of you; I am able to tell whether you are blatantly lying to me. I remember you getting out your shell cell and checking the time shortly after morning training finished. Your shell cell is not broken, and it was not broken. Do not try to lie your way out of this. You are grounded for the remainder of the week."

"Does this mean we won't get to see Mikey's new girlfriend?" Don asked Splinter.

Master Splinter looked at Mikey, before grinning slightly. "Of course not. I look forward to meeting her." He left the room, only pausing to cough into a handkerchief.


	15. The Cold

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews. S2 - That's meant to be a heart, by the way. o__o;;

* * *

**Michelangelo sat in front of the television, pretending to watch a show called 'Tortoise Dude'. He was too pre-occupied to give it his full attention, even though he had never seen it before. The only thing he could think about was the immediate future; the particular future that would occur the next day at lunchtime. Mikey wanted to call Leonardo and tell him what had happened, but his shell cell had been confiscated. Mikey would have to trust that his eldest brother would be able to cope with Angel without him, and that he could trust himself to cope without Angel.

Michelangelo shook his head furiously. The only thing he needed in order to keep his sanity was a slice of pizza. He sighed, leaning back on the sofa and changing channel. There had to be _something _that would occupy him, even if it was only temporarily.

A hand snatched the remote out of his hands. "Why the shell are ya watchin' a dumb kids show?"

Mikey could guess who is it was. "Raph, couldn't you see I was watching something?"

Raphael jumped over the couch, landing next to the orange masked brother. He smirked, "Yeah, and it was somethin' stupid so I changed the channel." He pointed the remote at the TV, changing it to the sport's channel.

Mikey looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. Raph hadn't tried to kill him… yet. He wondered if this meant that Master Splinter hadn't accused Raph of drinking. Raphael seemed sober, but Mikey couldn't be sure whether Raph was drunk or not and he certainly didn't want to find out. Mikey cleared his throat, "So, uh, did you have a nice chat with Master Splinter?"

Raph sniffed.

"Aw…" Mikey couldn't help himself. "What's the matter? Did Sensei tell you about the birds and the bees?"

"Shut up, Shell-head."

Mikey began fluttering his eyelids, "No need to get so offended, Raphie. I was only joking."

Raph glared at him, "Ya know I hate the name Raphie."

"You're the one who called me Shell-head. Don't be so hypocritical," Mikey told him. He chuckled at the expression on his brother's face. "Hey, Don's not the only one who knows big words. Or are you trying to work out what it means?"

Raph growled, tightening his grip on the remote. He turned the volume up in order to block out his brother's voice. "I know what it means, stupid." Mikey started to say something, but Raph cut him short. "Why don't we talk about somethin' else?"

"Okay," Mikey reached his foot out, picking up a slice of pizza from in front of him. He drew it towards his mouth, before releasing his grip on it. He chewed it, looking satisfied with himself. "Whaff oo wanna talk abou'?"

"Mikey, that's the most disgustin' thin' I have ever seen, and I live in a sewer with you," declared Raph. "I was thinkin' we have a little chat about ya girlfriend."

Mikey spat out his pizza, coughing.

"Ya know, I think I'll take back my previous statement," Raph scrunched up his face, "That's gross. Why do ya have to be such a pig? Can't ya eat with ya hands and with ya mouth shut? Or is it that hard doin' two things at once? I'm surprised that anyone would find ya attractive."

Mikey rubbed his plastron with his knuckles, grinning, "What can I say? I'm a lady's turtle. There's just something like, so irresistible about me."

"We're still talkin' about you, aren't we?"

"Well, we're obviously not talking about _you,_" said Mikey. Now that he was sure that Raph wasn't drunk but was just plain old grumpy Raph, he decided that he could tease him just a little bit. "And let's face it; Don and Leo are too boring for any girl to be interested in them."

"I'll give ya that," chortled Raph, putting his feet on the footstall near him. "How the shell did ya get yaself a girlfriend anyway? Ain't she a little freaked out that ya a walkin' mutant turtle?"

"Uh…" Mikey tilted his head to the side, pulling a face. "I was going to keep this as a surprise, but since you're my favourite brother…" He smiled slightly at the faint look of pride on his brother's face. "She's… kind of like us."

"Kind of?" Raph turned to him. "What do ya mean, kind of?"

Michelangelo groaned, "It's… a long story." Which meant that he hadn't thought of one yet. He made a mental note to tell Leonardo to think of one when he returned from Angel's. Leo had to have some imagination in him. Mikey yawned, "You can ask her when she comes tomorrow… Though… I haven't arranged an official time with her… and she doesn't know where the lair is."

"Boo who,"said Raph unemotionally, his eyes glued to the TV screen. "Come on, ya can take that wannabe down any day."

"I know, it's a real shame," remarked Mikey. "Hey, that means she can't come anymore. Oh well, I was so looking forward to introducing her to my family."

"What?" Raph whipped his head around, "Can't ya just call her and arrange it?"

"No," Mikey replied, "Sensei punished me, and I'm not allowed to leave the lair _or _use my shell cell. So I have no contact with her."

"Oh no, ya not gettin' out of it that easily," Raph reached into his belt and pulled out his shell cell. "Here, ya can go call her on mine. Just don't make any kissy kissy talk."

"Thanks bro!" Mikey grabbed it, for once pleased with Raphael. "I'll delete your caller history as well, so…uh… no one gets the wrong impression." He got off his seat, leaving Raph to shout abuse at his least favourite wrestler.

Michelangelo went into his room, blocking the gap beneath his door with an armful of pillows. He had learned to never underestimate his master's hearing. Mikey sat down on his bed and called Angel. "Hi Angel."

"Raph? What's the matter with your voice? Has Donnie tricked you into inhaling helium again?" Angel asked him, sounding concerned.

"What? How could you mistake me for Raph? It's me, Mike," Mikey rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you're calling from his shell cell," snapped Angel. "Whatever, where are you? I wanted Leo to practice flirting, and we can't if you're not here."

"What did you say?" Leo said in the background.

"Uh… I'll tell you in a minute. Get back to balancing that book on your head," Angel sighed. "You need to be here. You have to learn to be comfortable around… whatever name we decide upon."

"I can't," hissed Mikey, "I'm grounded."

"What!?" Angel shouted down the phone. Mikey held it at an arm's length, wincing, "What do you mean, you're grounded? Does Leo still have to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

Mikey nodded. When he realized that Angel couldn't see him, he replied, "Yeah. Sensei didn't go that far, unfortunately."

"Aw, don't look so downhearted, Leo," Angel giggled. Her tone of voice became sharp when she continued talking to Michelangelo. "What are we going to do? We're nowhere near ready."

"Leo can stay overnight or something," Mikey told her. For some unknown reason, this made him feel uncomfortable. However, he knew that there weren't any other options. "That'll give you a few extra hours. So, how's Leo doing?"

"Better than I thought," Angel answered. "All that excessive training has given him really good balance and stuff. The dress should hide most of his muscles; it's a good thing he isn't as well-built as Raph."

"Hey, I have a muscular figure as well," piped up Mikey. "He's just mostly made up of fat."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," said Angel. "So how's Leo getting to your place tomorrow?"

"I didn't think that far," admitted Mikey. He looked around for inspiration, before putting his gaze back onto the shell cell. "You aren't busy tomorrow, are you?"

"I am, kind of."

Mikey snorted, "You? Busy? What, have you got flowers to pick or something?"

"Very funny," said Angel, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Okay, I'll bring Leo over at lunchtime tomorrow. Tell Master Splinter that Leo's staying over for the rest of the day, on my orders."

"He has meditation in the afternoon," said Mikey. "He has to be home for that. Sensei doesn't like it when people miss it."

"Fine, Leo will be back for that. Then he's going straight back. Bye," Angel hung up.

Michelangelo stared at Raph's shell cell for a few minutes. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he had the suspicion that something was bothering Angel. She wasn't usually that cold with him. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when she had been moody with him at all. Mikey concluded that it was part of being a teenage girl as he left his room.

Raphael had departed from the living room, and the television had been turned off. Michelangelo went to where Raph had been sitting, and began looking for the remote. He searched on the carpet, and he lifted up the sofa and inspected the floor beneath it. However, he couldn't find it. Sighing, Mikey turned it on. With any luck, his brother had changed from the boring sports channel to something more exciting.

_"It's the fourth hole, and Lion Forest needs at least a birdie to move himself up the league,"_ an old man with flat hair said from the TV screen.

Mikey's mouth fell open in horror, "… Ew, golf. No wonder Raph got bored." He flicked the TV off, crossing his arms grumpily. He was bored. He had read all of his comics three times, his skateboard was floating in the sewer water somewhere, he had completed all of his video games and somebody (he suspected Raph) had hidden his collection of Justice Force action figures and the certain someone had denied any knowledge of ever having them. When Mikey became bored, his frustration of being bored tended to transform into being annoying.

He walked to the door of Don's room and knocked on it. When there was no reply, he began knocking on it continuously. After a minute of no response, he began knocking a random tune. He was thinking about getting his drumsticks when a voice from behind him queried, "Mikey… What are you doing?"

Donatello was standing behind him, waiting for him to answer. He was trying to look serious, but he couldn't help smiling slightly. Mikey put a hand behind his head, grinning, "I was waiting for you to answer the door. I mean, it's rude to go into someone's room without knocking. They might be doing something weird. Where were you?"

Don raised his brow, but decided against asking what Michelangelo thought he could be doing in his room that could be classified as 'weird'. He yawned, patting one of his hands against his mouth. Mikey saw that he was holding a cup of coffee in his other. "It's nice to know that in this modern age, manners still exist. I was getting myself a drink, seeing as you asked." He went past Mikey, entering his room. Mikey followed him in, standing next to Don as the turtle loaded up his computer. Don sighed, facing Mikey. "Is there something that you require?"

"I really like what you do with your skin. It looks so green and healthy," said Mikey.

"Okay…" Don turned away from him, disturbed. "And what does my skin have to do to with my monitor?"

Mikey shrugged, "You tell me."

"There isn't a correlation between either of them. It's just that you're intruding on my personal space, staring at my screen as though it's a TV."

"It's kind of like a TV," Michelangelo told him, "I mean, they both have screens that you look out. I just want to see what my favourite brother is up to." He put his arm around Don, beaming.

"You want something, don't you?" said Don, irritated. "Tell me what you want."

"I don't want anything!" Mikey told him. He left the room, pausing at the doorway to add, "You can go find Betty. See if I care. I have better things to do." He stamped away, feeling slightly hurt. Donatello didn't need to reply like that. Mikey had just wanted some company. He sat back down on the sofa, before remembering that he didn't know where the remote was. Klunk was sitting on the carpet in front of him, fast asleep. Desperately bored, Mikey shot up and knocked on the door to Splinter's room.

"Yes?"

"Hey Sensei," Mikey said, not opening the door. "I'm so bored, and the others are too busy being even more boring. Do you have any techniques that block out boredom?"

"No, Michelangelo. Boredom is a figment of the mind."

Mikey didn't really understand what that meant, but it probably meant 'no'. Mikey stretched his arms, "Well, I guess I'll just wait for meditation later."

"About that…" Splinter coughed, "I think I will cancel today's session. Would you mind telling your brothers for me?"

Mikey blinked. His master may as well have spoken Spanish. "Are you feeling okay Master?"

"I'm afraid not," Splinter replied weakly. "I'm not as young as I used to be. I believe that I may have caught a cold."

"Oh dear," Mikey said, punching the air. If his master's sickness continued for the next few days, he wouldn't be able to meet his 'girlfriend'. That would be one less person to fool, and that could only be a good thing. "Do you want me to get you something?"

Splinter sounded touched, "I would like some soup, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Thank you for offering."

"No problemo," Mikey went into the kitchen, taking out some microwave soup. He put it into the microwave, before setting the timer. Thirsty, he opened the cooler to get out a can of soda. It seemed a lot barer than it had been the last time he had opened it, but then again obviously the others would have taken a drink out of it at some point. When the timer went, he took out the soup and went into his master's room. Splinter was on his sleeping mat, propped up by a couple of large pillows.

"Thank you," he said when Mikey gave him the tray that the soup was on. He coughed into his hand, dismissing his son with the feeble wave of his hand. Mikey took a brief look around Splinter's room (for it was rare that he actually went into it), before leaving and turning on the television.

_"Lion Forest is on his fifth hole, and it looks like he's on the road to victory._"

Mikey sighed. Still, golf was better than sitting in a stuffy meditation room for two hours.

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**When Mikey was knocking on Don's door, the random tune he was playing happened to be the theme music to TMNT (the 2k3 one. Not the BttS one).**


	16. The Date

**Thanks again for the reviews.

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**It was time.

Mikey paced the lair, anxiously looking towards the door. It was one o'clock in the afternoon on the day that his brothers would be meeting his 'girlfriend'. Fortunately, Master Splinter was confined to his room because he feared that he would pass on his cold to their visitor. Raphael had tried to persuade Splinter to come out, saying that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but Splinter remained firm. Mikey was very grateful for this, because he severely doubted anyone could fool Master Splinter. It was one of those facts.

Raph yawned, drumming his fingers against the sofa's armrest. Don sat on the armchair, tapping his foot. After a few minutes, Raph asked Mikey, "How long is she goin' to be?"

"I thought you said she was coming at midday," added Don, "At lunch."

"Some people have their lunch _now,_" Mikey explained, but he was wondering the same thing as his brothers. It wasn't like his brother to be late. If Leo wasn't there, it meant it was most likely a fault on Angel's part.

"We aren't 'some people'," Don told him, "Did you tell her a specific time?"

"No," admitted Mikey, "Uh… could I borrow one of your shell cells? I wanna tell her to get off her butt and come over right now."

Don sighed, handing him his shell cell. "Don't get any dirty fingerprints on it."

Mikey dialled Angel's number, only to get no reply. Don and Raph raised their brows at him. Mikey coughed, "I… uh, called the wrong number. Let me try again." He entered Leo's shell cell number instead. To his horror, Leo didn't answer either.

"What, she ain't got a phone now?" smirked Raph. "Next ya will be tellin' us she doesn't speak English."

Mikey gave Don back his shell cell, downhearted. It looked like his grand plan had failed. Now he was going to have to confess to his brothers that he didn't have a girlfriend after all, and he had just lied in an attempt to avoid humiliation. He groaned, gazing sadly at his brothers. He decided that he may as well tell them the truth.

"Guys…" Mikey said, breathing deeply. "I… have something I need to tell you."

"Ya don't have a girlfriend?" Raph grinned, "I knew it! Ya owe me ten bucks, Don!"

"Being optimistic has its downsides," sighed Don, getting up to retrieve his wallet.

"Wait!" the three brothers turned their heads. The door of the lair swung open, and a figure stumbled in. Raph's mouth fell open as Mikey's face lit up. Don blinked, unbelieving of what he was seeing. "I'm sorry I'm late. These sewers are so hard to find your way around, you know?"

"No. Way," Raph's eyes darted between the new arrival and Mikey, his eyes growing bigger by the second, "Ya were actually tellin' the truth?"

Leo looked a lot better than Mikey had thought he would. The brown dress hung loosely from his body, hiding any muscles that the turtle had. The hood obscured most of his face, but a pair of pale blue mask tails poked out of the hood. Mikey looked down and studied the sandals he was wearing. They were a very pale brown with a fake flower glued to the straps. His voice was also very cleverly disguised. If Mikey hadn't known better, he would have thought that 'she' was a mutant turtle that they had never met.

"I'm Venus de Milo," Leo told them, sitting himself on the sofa next to Don. Mikey beamed, sitting on the other side of him, "But you can call me Venus."

"You're a mutant turtle just like us," exclaimed Don, looking at her two toed feet with interest. He looked at her face, "I thought we were the only ones. Wow, this is amazing."

"Let's go get Master Splinter," Raph stood up, "I bet he'd love to meet her!"

"No!" Mikey cried out. "I… uh, I mean… Venus is kinda shy. It took me ages to persuade her to come here. She only came along because I told her you all looked like her. That's right, isn't it Venus?"

Leo nodded.

"Also, Raph, I had a look at Sensei last night and his cold is very contagious," added Don. "We wouldn't want Venus to catch it. Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Here," Raph said.

"I was talking to Venus," replied Don.

Mikey flinched. He hoped that Leo had come up with a story of Venus' origin, because he as sure as shell hadn't.

"I lived with a very nice man in China," explained Leo, "But recently he got very sick. I came to America in the hopes of finding a medicine. I managed to, and I sent it over. However, I did not have enough money to return. But I enjoy it here, and I live wherever the wind takes me."

"Good one," Mikey whispered to Leo.

"Ya don't sound Chinese," remarked Raph. Mikey looked at Leo worriedly.

Leo waved his hand dismissively, "I lost my accent. That's what happens when you live in a different country for so long." Raph accepted this, stretching his arms.

"I don't think the wind has much to offer food wise," Don told Leo warmly, "Would you like me to fetch you a snack? You just missed out on lunch, I'm afraid."

"That would be nice," smiled Leo, lowering his hood slightly.

Don left the room, humming under his breath. As soon as he was out of the room, Raph moved from the armchair and took Don's seat. "So," Raph bared his teeth into a smile, "Why would a little turtle like you be with a turtle like _Mikey_?"

"I'm surprised that you asked that," Leo piped up, "You accepted that there is another giant turtle very quickly."

Mikey glared at him, mentally shouting at him 'Do you want them to figure you out?'

"Ya should see the kinds of thin's we come across," Raph told him, "Time travellin' maniacs… utroms… After a while anythin' becomes possible."

Don returned with a tray of snacks. "Raph, I was sitting there."

"It doesn't matter," Leo stood up and went to the armchair. "Have my seat." Mikey smiled at the way he walked there. Angel had taught him very well. Mikey was surprised she hadn't charged him.

The four of them sat in silence, waiting for someone to start conversation. After a few minutes, Raph said in a bored tone, "Ya don't seem much like a couple."

"What'd you mean?" Mikey asked him.

"I thought when people liked each other they kissed and stuff," explained Raph, getting out his sai and picking at his teeth. Don shuddered, turning away from him and looking at Leo. "All ya doin' is just sittin' there."

"We could watch TV," suggested Mikey, his mind throwing up at the thought of kissing any of his brothers.

"Mikey, come with me for a minute," Raph stood up and went into his room. Leo mouthed 'Don't leave me' at Mikey. He shrugged his shoulders slightly, following Raph. He shut the door behind him and Raph, hearing a conversation start behind him.

"Okay Raph, what is it?" Mikey groaned.

"Mikey, I don't think I've ever told you this before, but I care for you," Raph said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Mikey sniffed, though this turned out to be a bad move. The room smelt strange. It was a mixture of air freshener and beer.

"Thanks… I think," replied Mikey.

"And seein' ya outside with her is really annoyin' me," Raph continued. "It's obvious ya have no experience with girls."

"What, and you do?" Mikey asked him, chuckling.

"What I'm sayin' is that ya have to make a move," explained Raph, "Before somebody else does, if ya know what I mean."

"There's only so many other people she can have an affair with. I mean, it's not like there's a mutant dating agency or… some… thing…" It clicked. Mikey stared at Raph with wide eyes, "Hey, you can't steal her! I found her fair and square."

"Mikey, it's plain ya not ready for a relationship," Raph sneered, "'Found her fair and square'… She ain't somethin' ya can just buy from the store. Ya have to claim her before somebody else does. And I couldn't care less about her; ya better be worried about Donnie."

"Donnie?"

"Yeah," Raph nodded, "Did ya see how angry he was when I took his seat? He wanted to sit with her and get to know her and stuff."

"Don didn't sound angry…" Mikey commented, looking over his shoulder, despite the fact there was a wall blocking him from seeing them.

"Out of all of us, Don's the best at hidin' his emotions," Raph told him. "Ya can never tell what the guy's thinkin'. He's pretty quiet, but for all we know he's schemin'."

Mikey's heart began to bang against his chest. The longer he was talking to Raph, the longer Leo was alone with Don. Mikey dismissed himself from Raph's room, hoping that his absence hadn't allowed Don to figure out the lie he was putting them through. Don was pretty clever. Thankfully, they were just having a polite conversation, with Don doing most of the talking. Mikey observed that Leo had moved, and was now sitting next to Don on the sofa. Mikey sat next to Leo as well, looking at Don out of the corner of his eyes. If Don was scheming, he was doing it unnoticeably well.

"Hi Mikey," Leo said to him. He was facing away from the other two, and was pulling a 'kill-me-now' face. "How long do you want me to stay for? I've got to… uh, be moving to another place soon."

"Another place?" reiterated Raph.

"Remember, she goes wherever the wind takes her," Mikey grinned, putting his hands behind his head. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be sad at this news, so he leant forwards and frowned. "I'm, uh, glad that you all got to meet each other and stuff. Right Venus?"

Leo picked up a carton of noodles off the tray, "Right." He blinked at the noodles, before looking directly at Don. "You like noodles?"

"We like a lot of stuff," Raph told him, "Why, are noodles ya favourite food? I love chowin' down on noodles too."

"You three don't seem the type of guys to eat noodles," explained Leo, checking the label on them. "Hey, it says 'Property of Leonardo; do not eat' on it."

Don shrugged, "Oh, they belong to our other brother. I'm sure Leo won't mind." Don looked around, "Where is Leo anyway? He's missing out."

"It's probably good he ain't here," Raph smirked, "He's completely useless around girls."

"I'm sure Leonardo is just as good around girls as you are," sneered Leo. Mikey elbowed him. Leo sighed, "I'm sorry; I just don't like to hear you badmouthing each other."

"She has a heart of gold," Mikey beamed, putting his arm around Leo. "Concerned about other people's snacks and stuff. She's such a doll!"

Leo put the noodles down back on the tray, "Actually… If you don't mind, I would quite like a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal."

"Cool, I love coffee," Don said, picking the tray up. "And we have plenty of cereal; Raph loves the stuff. Hey, Mikey, would you mind helping me? I could do with a hand."

"Sure bro," Mikey stood up and followed him into the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder, sniggering at the shocked expression on Leo's face as Raph settled himself next to him. Once they were in the kitchen, Mikey began getting out an assortment of cereal boxes. He got a scrap of material out of the sink and wiped the kitchen counter roughly, before going to the cupboard above the washing machine and getting out a bowl.

"I wish we'd cleaned the place up a bit more," said Don, going to the sink and pouring water into the kettle. "She must think we are filthy."

"Nah, I'm sure she's used to it," reassured Mikey, wiping his finger against the sink. He winced, rubbing it against the cloth he'd used to mop up the counter. It could do with a bit of cleaning. He told himself to do it later… after he'd watched television and had dinner… if he still had the time… On second thoughts, he'd just tell Don to get to work later.

"Mikey," said Don. Mikey turned to him, concerned. His brother sounded worried.

"Yeah?"

"You need to be on your guard," Don alerted him, getting out a jar of instant coffee. He spooned a bit of its contents into a clean mug.

"On my guard?" Mikey blinked, "Why, are one of you trying to assassinate me? I knew it! I always thought that you looked a bit shifty."

Don shook his head, "Don't be so dramatic. Haven't you seen the way Raph's sucking up to Venus?"

Mikey bit the insides of his cheeks, trying not to laugh. He had a very good idea as to where this conversation was heading. He nodded, doubting his ability to keep a straight face if he opened his mouth.

"I think he's infatuated with her," Don pressed on, taking the kettle and pouring some hot water into the cup. "I mean, he lied and said he eats noodles all the time. He hardly ever eats pasta. He just wants to pretend that they both have similar interests."

"Right," Mikey allowed himself to say. He faced away from his brother and poured some cornflakes into a bowl, laughing silently. When he recuperated from his mute laughing fit, he asked his brother, "What do you suggest I do? Gauge his eyes out?"

"Just make it clear where you stand," Don put his hand onto his brother's shoulder, "I just don't want you to get upset if something was to make a hole in your relationship."

"It's nice to know you care," said Mikey, picking up the bowl of cereal. He re-entered the room, putting the cereal onto the end table before sitting on the armchair. He put his feet onto the footrest, smiling as Don sat on the other side of Leo. This was going to be fun.

"Hey Venus," said Raph, "Now that we're all friends, I think we should get to know each other a bit more."

Leo eyed him warily, "Sure. What do you like doing?"

"Trainin'," answered Raph, "And playin' around with my motorcycle. I'm pretty handy with these sorta thin's."

"I taught Raph most of what he knows," Don piped up, "And I made the motorcycle from scraps of metal. It's complicated, but once you play around with electronics on a regular basis it becomes a habit."

"Yeah," Raph glared at Don warningly, "I also do trainin' as well. Don's not the best fighter, so I help make sure he doesn't get left behind in our sparrin' sessions. I don't have to, but I do it 'cos it's my duty."

Mikey exhaled, grinning. Yep, it was going to be very fun.


	17. The Paranoia

**I'm loving the reviews I'm getting. :) I had a nice Christmas. I hope you all did too.  


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**Mikey wasn't sure whether he should have been pleased that Leo was enjoying himself, or if he should have been slightly concerned. He was more than sure that Leo wasn't taking pleasure in pretending to be a member of the opposite sex. He suspected greatly that it was more to do with the fact that he had his two brothers wrapped around his little finger. Of course, Leo was their leader and bossed them about all the time, but he must have liked the fact that now when he bossed his brothers around, they actually listened to him without complaining.

Mikey was concerned that neither of his brothers had realized that his date was his brother in a potato sack. Raph easily got suspicious of things and Don was no fool. He guessed that it was a mixture of drowsiness and the fact that it was Leo. In a dress. He didn't know anyone who would see _that _coming.

"It's nice to know you're all having fun," remarked Mikey, crossing his arms as he watched the other three play a video game.

"Ya just mad that we don't have another game controller," smirked Raph.

"Yeah," said Mikey, poking himself in the plastron, "Seeing as it's my wii, my game and it was one of my wii remotes that you broke. You know, I think that I should be able to use one of my game controllers to play my game against my girlfriend."

"Sorry Mikey, I didn't quite catch what belonged to you," said Don, pressing his teeth against his tongue so he didn't laugh at his brother. "Wow, Venus, you're pretty good at Mario Kart, especially since you don't stay in one place."

Mikey narrowed his eyes at the television screen, "Yeah Venus, how come you're so good at this game? I thought you had a thing against video games."

Leo shrugged, coughing into the sleeve of his dress, "Oh… um… Natural talent, I guess." He turned to Raph, "Hey… Raph, could you get me some soda?"

"Sure," Raph paused the game and stood up, before going to the kitchen. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Oh," Leo added, "I could do with some chips as well."

"I'll fetch you some," offered Don, putting his game controller onto the end table and leaving the room after Raph.

As soon as Don closed the door behind him, Leo chuckled and put his feet on a footstall. "I could get used to this, Mikey."

"I wouldn't expect you to enjoy this sort of thing," laughed Mikey, covering his mouth with his hand. "I thought it broke some code of honour or something."

"Nah," Leo shook his head, "There's nothing in the rulebook about this sort of thing."

"There's a rulebook?" Mikey asked him.

"Probably," said Leo. "You sound sort of surprised."

"I just thought that you made them up as you went along so life was more convenient for you," explained Mikey. "Hey, how about we start another race and I'll go against you?"

"No Mike," Leo slapped Mikey's hand away from Raph's game controller, "I don't need you starting a fight. I enjoy the attention they're giving me. Don's not making remarks about me behind my back," Leo's eyes glittered, "And Raph's actually doing as I say. Mikey, you don't understand how pleasant a change this is. I'm tempted to do this more often, you know."

"No," said Mikey firmly, "Venus will move on tomorrow and never come back."

"Aw…" Leo smiled darkly, "You're acting like you're jealous of me, now that the spotlight's not on you for once."

"Okay Leo," Mikey sighed, "But I just want to remind you about the sort of attention you're getting. They think you're _cute_. And not in a cuddly teddy bear way." Mikey hugged himself, "Gee, you must like doing this."

Leo paled, "But… but I'm your girlfriend, Mikey. They wouldn't try and do anything funny on me, would they?"

"Dunno," Mikey sniggered, "Would they?"

"They wouldn't cheat with me... if I was with you…" Leo widened his eyes at Mikey's doubtful expression.

"Bro, there's something called affairs," Mikey put his arm around Leo's shoulders, "It's when a partner-"

"Mikey, I know what an affair is," snapped Leo. "But I mean… you're their brother! You're… Mikey."

Mikey nodded.

"You're right," gasped Leo, "Okay, Venus is going tomorrow; never to return."

Don and Raph re-entered the room. Raph got out a can of drink that Mikey recognized as beer. 'Alcohol safety TV ads', thought Mikey. 'Never leave home without watching one'. They picked up their game controllers, sitting down on either side of Leo. Mikey groaned, regretting that he hadn't taken one of them when they had left the room.

"You're-" Leo realized he had dropped his voice, and swiftly had a coughing fit. After a gentle pat on the back by Don, Leo resumed the sentence in his fake voice, "- drinking alcohol?"

"Yeah," said Raph, not acting like it was a big deal. "Sensei and Leo have this thin' against it, but that's only 'cos they don't know what they're missin'. Hey, ya want some?"

"Venus doesn't drink," butted in Mikey, "Do you, Venus?"

"Mikey, she has her own voice," snarled Raph. He smiled at Leo sweetly, "How about it? Wanna have a taste?"

"Raph, leave Venus alone," Don told Raph, "If she wants to poison herself, she'll do it by herself. You don't need to try and show her some of your propaganda to try and make her-"

"I ain't makin' her do nothin'," Raph said heatedly. "Can we just drop it and play the stupid game?"

Mikey could sense him getting angry, so looked around for some sort of diversion. "Hey, Don, use your turtle shell!"

Don looked at his back, confused, "What?"

"I mean, your green turtle shell!" Mikey got off the armchair and jabbed his finger against the TV screen. "You're directly behind Luigi!"

***

"Aren't you staying for dinner?" asked Don, some hours later. Mikey noted that he hadn't gotten a chance to test his skills against Leo in all that time.

Leo shook his head, "I would love to, but I have to go. I have… uh, places to go… people to meet. It was great meeting you. You were very nice." He sighed and muttered sadly, "I'm going to miss this treatment."

"Okay," said Don shaking Leo's hand, "If you ever pop by New York, please be aware that we would be more than happy to have your company once more." He yawned, "I'm going to go to my room for a bit. See you guys later."

Raph put his arm around Leo's waist, baring his teeth, "Yeah… Come by anytime…"

Leo removed Raph's hand, "I will… if I can."

"But it's very unlikely," commented Mikey, "So… bye Venus, hope you have a nice life."

"Hey, aren't ya gonna give her a goodbye kiss?" asked Raph, hiccupping. He shook his hand at Leo, holding a can of lager. "Go on…"

"Uh…" Leo and Mikey exchanged looks, trying very hard to mask their disgust. Mikey linked his arm through Leo's, "Venus is sorta shy about these things… We wanna have a private goodbye… like, somewhere that isn't here. Chow!"

Leo and Mikey walked into the sewers before the others questioned anything else. Leo groaned, wiping his forehead with his hand. He scratched it, "This material itches like crazy. You don't know how long I've wanted to scratch there."

"I'll guess a really long time," Mikey kicked at a tin can, knocking it into the sewer water. "Goal!"

Leo punched the palm of his hand, "Did you see Raph drinking? He has no right to, especially after Sensei told him that he's not allowed! Just wait until I tell Master Splinter-"

"Nothing," finished Mikey.

Leo blinked, "What the shell do you mean nothing? Do you expect me to let him get away with… with…"

"Yeah," replied Mikey, "Remember, you weren't there. You were out when 'Venus' came over. You say anything about what happened and the guys will figure out what happened. Do you want them to know about the deal we made?"

"But…" Leo said, determined not to be defeated so easily, "What if you told me that Raph was drinking, and then I told Sensei that you told me and-"

"Then I'll look like a sneak," interrupted Mikey. Leo started to say something, but Mikey quickened his pace to show that the conversation had ended, "Leo, you're going to have to leave it. I know it's like, hard, but sometimes you have to let things go."

"Wow, check you out Mikey!" grinned Leo, jogging so that he was next to him again, "It's like you have past experience on this."

"Maybe…" Mikey shrugged, letting Leo pass him. "Hey, how far do you wanna go?"

"At least until I get out of the sewers," answered Leo, climbing up a ladder without hesitation. His voice got quieter as he got higher, "I want to give Angel back this dress, so I'll go toher house. This dress is so…"

Mikey put his hands on the ladder and started to go after him, but he froze when he heard a voice behind him. "That wasn't much of a farewell."

"Are you usually that nosey Raph?" asked Mikey, turning his head around, "Because Sensei's already got that department covered."

"What? I just wanted to have one last look at ya friend," said Raph, crossing his arms. "Ya don't have to be so paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid," Mikey told him stubbornly, "I just wanted to say goodbye to Venus by myself. Is that against the law?"

"Mikey's paranoid," chuckled Raph, pointing at Mikey.

"Yeah, well…" Mikey let go of the ladder and clenched his fists, "If you look up 'fathead' in the dictionary, there will be a picture of your face."

"Oh look," smirked Raph to no one, "He's resortin' to his fathead jokes. Wazza matter, ya don't have any new material? I thought ya were the funny one."

"Just leave me alone," said Mikey angrily. Raph always picked on him; everyone picked on him most of the time. He was sick of it. He had just gotten away with the Venus thing and he didn't want Raph to ruin his feeling of success. "Seriously, why are you here? Apart from the fact you were spying on me and…"

Mikey inhaled sharply.

How much of his and Leo's conversation had Raph heard? If he had heard anything, then he would have picked out Leo's voice in a heartbeat. Mikey stared at Raph, trying to look calm. He couldn't ask him outright if he had figured it out… well, in all honesty he could but Mikey didn't want to hear the answer. He knew if he didn't ask, then he would continue to feel uneasy… but he was still reluctant to ask, no matter how uncomfortable the feeling was.

"Hey Mike," piped up Raph, "Ya on another planet or what?"

"Venus and I… exchanged some information… that we wanted to keep private," lied Mikey. If he phrased any of his question wrong, then Raph would definitely know that something was up. "Just… how much did you hear?"

"Para… noid," Raph rolled his eyes, "Don't get ya mask in a twist. I didn't hear nothin' that ya said. I only just managed to catch up with ya."

"Oh," a smile spread on Mikey's face. "Oh, that's great. Real great. Wow, I take back what I said about you earlier. You aren't a nosy shell-face."

"Like I said, ya paranoid," Raph pushed past him and climbed up the ladder.

"Where are you going?" asked Mikey.

"Now ya bein' nosy," Raph retorted, moving upwards.

"Yeah, and you're being paranoid!" Mikey grinned. "We swapped places. Come on Raph, you can tell me where you're going."

"To Angel's."

"What?"

"I didn't hear ya conversation," Raph stated, "But I heard Venus tellin' ya she was goin' to Angel's place for some reason."

"No!" Mikey placed his hands onto his cheeks. Leo wouldn't be in any rush to get to Angel's. So Raph, if he hurried, would either reach their destination first, or he would meet up with Leo on the way. Or he would get to Angel's just after his brother and see Leo taking off his disguise. Or he would have just gotten out of his costume, and Raph would see the disguise. Or he would get there after it was seemingly safe, and wonder why Leo was there in the first place. That was too many 'or's for Mikey's taste.

Leo was a dedicated student. Angel bunked off school. Leo rarely placed a toe out of line. Angel had been a Purple Dragon. Leo had never sworn in his life. Angel had taught Mikey words he wasn't sure if Raph or Casey even knew. Raph had known it was Mikey who had mixed his mask with Splinter's white kimonos within a second of seeing his foiled mask (though Mikey had insisted that pink went well with green). His chances looked grim.

"I think Angel's out!" Mikey shouted up to him. "She was meant to bring Venus to the lair and she didn't. That means she's busy."

"That was hours ago," Raph yelled down. "She'll be home by now. She was probably at school or somethin'. Her school finished a few hours ago." His voice was deathly distant now.

"But… but…" Mikey groaned. He breathed in, before spitting on his hands and grabbing tightly onto the ladder. He scuttled upwards to find the manhole open, and Raph nowhere to be seen. He had already left. Mikey lifted himself out and stood up straight. "Sensei said I had the most potential… let's hope for the love of dignity that he was right."


	18. The Move

**I feel stupid. Apparently Angel lives in an apartment, not a house… poop. Oh, and thanks to you guys who reviewed. :) It gives me motivation.

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**

Leonardo climbed through the window. As he went through, the window shut on the bottom of his dress. He tugged at it, causing it to rip. Leo groaned, pulling the dress over his head. He was dimly aware that Angel was in the room; he was too busy struggling to get the dress off of him to focus on her. Angel sighed, getting off her bed and pulling the piece of clothing over his head. Leo stretched his arms as the dress fell onto the carpet, before scratching the top of his left arm. "Finally, and I won't have to wear it ever again. Thanks Angel."

"You're welcome," Angel said emotionlessly, picking it up off the floor. She opened her chest of drawers and stuffed the dress into it, before loudly slamming the drawer shut. Leo flinched, looking at the now cracked piece of furniture. Angel kicked it angrily, "Stupid pile of junk."

"Don't worry," said Leo, putting his hand on her shoulder. "If you want, Don can fix it for you."

"I don't care if it's broken," snapped Angel, falling back onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, blocking out the turtle that was in the room with her. Leo stood there awkwardly, wondering if he should ask her what was wrong.

"Uh… I think I ripped the dress coming in…" apologized Leo uncertainly. "If you want… I can ask April to fix it. Sewing is not one of my professions, I'm afraid… though she won't be back for a while. Sensei's very handy at needlework, so I think-"

"Don't bother about them," sighed Angel. "I'm not taking either of them with me."

"I'll probably sound rude, but where are you going?" enquired Leo curiously.

Angel stood up and walked slowly to her open window. She closed it firmly, before looking at her feet. She thought that it would be easier for her to say it if she wasn't facing him. "I was going to tell you guys tomorrow… but…" Angel shuddered, finding that she couldn't tell him even if he wasn't in her line of sight. Leo sat down on Angel's bed patiently, not wanting to rush her.

"Do you want me to leave?" Leo asked after a few minutes of no sound.

"No!" Angel shook her head furiously, turning around. "That's the last thing I want. Leo… I'm moving!" There, she had said it.

Leo blinked, not quite understanding, "You're… moving?"

"Yeah," Angel mumbled, her face as white as paper. She looked up at Leo, her face unusually still. The only things that moved were her lips. "Out of New York."

"But…" Leo shook his head disbelievingly, "Why?"

"I'm going to live with my dad," explained Angel, looking sideways. "And he lives real far out in the country."

"Why can't you keep on living here with your…" Leo followed her gaze and saw the back of a framed photograph, which was sitting on her bedside table. His eyes flickered between her face and the object, before settling on Angel once more. "Can I…?"

Angel nodded.

Leo reached over and picked up the photograph. It was of who he recognized as Angel's grandmother, a woman who Leo had only seen once, long ago. He stared at the picture of her, prior to lifting his head. He raised his brow sadly at her, and was greeted with a slow nod. He placed the photograph onto his lap. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Angel said, "It isn't your fault." She took the photograph and examined it sadly, "I'm leaving tomorrow. Me and Ryan are staying here for the night, but tomorrow Dad's coming to pick us up. I… I'm gonna miss you guys."

"You can still visit," Leo told her, getting to his feet. "You'll always be welcome here."

"You're making it harder for me, being all nice," Angel muttered.

Leo grinned at her weakly, "Shall I be horrible to you then?"

Angel laughed uneasily, rubbing her eyes. "I… I've nearly finished packing... That's why I didn't come to take you… to the lair earlier… I don't know how I'm going to tell the others… I can't believe this is even happening… When Ryan told me this morning, I went to bed… hoping it was a bad dream…"

"It's okay," Leo reassured her, squeezing Angel's hands. "Time heals many wounds."

"Hm…" Angel shivered, suddenly feeling cold. "I'm not sure I want to wait a long time…" She narrowed her eyes, seeing that Leo had opened his mouth. "And don't you dare give me a proverb about being patient."

"I won't," Leo said, smiling. He wanted to show her that it was alright, and that she didn't have to be upset, but unfortunately Angel took in the wrong way.

"It ain't something to smile about!" she said crossly, stamping her foot. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much. You don't… you don't know how much you mean to me."

"By your tears, I would guess a lot," remarked Leo. He went in front of her and wiped her eyes with his finger.

Angel slapped his hand lightly, "Hey, I ain't crying. I never cry. All that small print you read must have made your vision dodgy. I think you need glasses."

Leo raised his brow sceptically, but he didn't reply. There were times when Angel reminded him strongly of his red masked brother, and he suspected that was why the two got on so well. "I best be getting back. The others will be wondering where I am." Leo went to the window, before turning back. "Aren't you coming?"

Angel rolled her eyes and said in a sour voice, "Why do I need to come? Do I look like I'm in the mood for going out?"

"You said you're leaving tomorrow," explained Leo, "And the day's nearly over. I'll drop you off at the lair and go get April and…" Leo widened his eyes, remembering that they were still on holiday and weren't due back for another two weeks. He gazed sadly at Angel, knowing that she would want to say goodbye to Casey. Casey was her role model, much to April's disappointment. Angel realized this too, blinking a few times.

Leo cleared his throat, "Are you ready?"

"No," Angel muttered. Leo shook his head at her, opening the window and climbing out. He twisted his head around, perched on the windowsill. "Come on Angel."

"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever…" Angel backed away, "I'll… I'll take the stairs."

"It'll be quicker if you come through the window," said Leo, not moving from where he was.

"It won't be if I have to get to the lair in a wheelchair," pointed out Angel. "If I want to break my legs, I'll go tell Hun that he'd look good in a tutu."

Leo waited until Angel had grabbed her jacket and had left the room before looking at New York. Angel didn't have a fantastic view of the city, and all he could see were tall dark blocks of apartments. There was extremely little grassland, which made one wonder how the children in the area entertained themselves. He cast his eyes to a group of children who were crowded together, huddled under a dying tree. He sighed when he saw the flicker of a flame. Leo noted that although it was dark, it would be wise to avoid going near them. He didn't want to be illuminated by what he suspected was a cigarette lighter.

He jumped swiftly downwards, the drop not high enough to deter him in anyway. Angel came out of the building, pulling the sleeves of her jacket towards her hands. "It's freezing."

"You'll warm up once we get moving," stated Leo. "Think about me; I'm not wearing anything."

"That's what you get for choosing to parade around naked," Angel told him. "Anyway, I wouldn't stand around here. There are… losers around here." She gestured towards the young people under the tree, sniffing with distaste. "Hey, know any routes that avoid them?"

"Only one," said Leo.

"Sure, let's go that way," Angel declared.

"You sure?"

Angel put her hands on her hips. The turtles were shorter than most people, and to her dismay she noticed that she was even shorter than them. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Leo winked at her, "If you insist, Angel."

He took hold of her hands, before placing them on his shoulders. Then, without any warning, he jerked his body forwards. Angel gasped, clinging onto him tightly. Leo went to the side of her apartment building and another block of flats, and started wall jumping up it. Angel lifted her head slightly, watching the wall she was facing get closer and further away multiple times. She wasn't afraid in the slightest; the rush of the air against her body took her mind off what was happening tomorrow.

"I doubt anyone will be travelling via the rooftops," commented Leo, stopping at the top. "But if you want, I can go this way and you can just walk there."

"Are you kidding?" gasped Angel, her eyes shining. "I've always wanted to see New York this way. Go extra fast."

"As you wish," said Leo, bending his knees. "Hold on tight."

Angel wrapped her arms around his neck, before kneeing him in the sides. "Giddy up."

She had barely finished her sentence when they shot off the roof. Angel's hair danced as they flew upwards. Her name had never been more appropriate. When they landed, she could feel her purple locks of hair escaping from her bunches. She didn't want to take her arms off Leo to sort them out, and the turtle didn't slow down when he touched the next rooftop, so she just shook her head and let her hair bands fly away behind her. It felt uncomfortable when she stuck out her head against the direction they were moving in, but she found that Leo's shell felt even more awkward. She settled with laying the left side of her head against his shell so that she could admire the scenery that flashed past her.

***

Raphael skidded to a stop, listening to the shrill ringing of his shell cell. He grated his teeth at the sound, wishing that Don would update their cells and allow them to have custom ringtones. He reached into his belt and pulled out his vibrating item. He pressed a button, before speaking into it. "Who is it? I'm kinda busy."

"Raph…" Michelangelo groaned. "Is that… you?"

The shell cell slipped from his hands, and he only just managed to catch it before it made impact with the ground. "Mikey?" Raph exclaimed. Mikey's voice sounded weak. "What's wrong?"

"I hurt myself…" Mikey murmured, "Sensei's sick… and Don's passed out in front of his computer… I'm all alone..."

"Are ya in the lair?" asked Raph, shaking slightly.

"Yeah…" Mikey coughed, "Raph… I need you…"

"I'll be right there," Raph told him, "Just… just hang on… Think about video games or Venus or somethin'…" He hung up, roughly putting away his shell cell and disappearing from the rooftop that he had been standing on. As soon as the ends of his mask tails vanished from the edge of the building, Leo and Angel appeared on the horizon.

"There's a manhole down there," Leo pointed to the gap that Raph had just fallen through.

"Aw…" Angel frowned. The fun… the thrill… it had been far too short-lived. It was like they had only been travelling for a few minutes (which was actually true, but the experience had made Angel lose all track of time). "Can't we go around again?"

"I thought you wanted to spend as much time with everyone as you could," Leo told her, standing still.

"Yeah…" Angel admitted, but the ride had been too amazing for her to want to give it up. Also, she knew how upset the others would be when they found out it was her last visit… Angel scrunched up her face for moment, before deciding that she wasn't going to burst into tears. She could imagine their faces, Raph's and Mikey's in particular, and she desperately wanted to get the image out of her head. "Can't… can't we have one more lap? I won't be able to ride a mutant turtle around New York again. I don't think the village I'm moving to will have many of them… Or are you too tired?"

She giggled silently, feeling Leo stiffen. "Of course I'm not tired. Alright, one more lap. But then we're going straight to the lair to tell the others. Got it?"

He didn't wait for her to answer, instead leaping over the space between the two buildings and running off. Below him, Raph was lifting up a manhole. He looked up, thinking he had seen something. He stared upwards, concluding that he had just imagined it. Raph clenched his fists, "I hope Mikey's okay."

***

"Yeah…" Mikey coughed, "Raph… I need you…"

Mikey waited for Raph to hang up, before getting to his feet and sitting next to Donatello on the couch. Don looked at his brother, "You are so dead when he finds out that there's nothing wrong. 'Don's passed out in front of his computer'… Nice. Couldn't you have thought of a less demeaning reason?"

"What?" Mikey shrugged, grinning madly. "I couldn't think clearly with you laughing in the background. And I wanted him to get back as quickly as possible before he reached Angel's place and found-" Mikey realized what he was saying, and turned the volume of the television up. He had managed to find the TV remote, though he and Don were still confused as to how it had ended up in the fridge.

"Nevertheless, he's going to be ticked off when he finds out that you played with his emotions to manipulate him," added Don, sipping his glass of cola, which he had to drink instead of coffee because the kettle had mysteriously broken in half.

"Since when has he _not _been ticked off by me?" asked Mikey, holding out his glass of soda.

"Good point," Don grinned, and the pair gently hit their glasses of drink together. "You know, cola's not too bad, but I still don't understand how the kettle broke in half. I can't imagine any sort of malfunction that would cause it to do that. It's… unnatural."

"It was by one of Leo's spare swords," explained Mikey, "Well… I mean… uh… I think, anyway."


	19. The Party

**49 reviews. :o That's like, the most I've ever had. :D Thank you thank you!!!

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**Michelangelo shouldn't have been surprised when Raphael came running into the lair, as if he was being chased by the Demon Shredder. Raph tossed his head in every direction, moving so fast that Mikey was afraid that his head would fly off and go splat against the wall. After a few seconds of confusion, Raph faced the other two turtles. Then, he narrowed his eyes. Knowing what was coming, Mikey looked at Donatello pleadingly. However, to his annoyance, Don had hidden himself behind an old dusty book of some sort.

"Hey Raph, were you trying to screw your head back on?" asked Mikey jokingly, "Or have you taken up dancing?" The mental image of Raph in a tutu popped into his mind, and he spluttered with laughter. Raph perceived it as Mikey mocking him.

"Ya the one who's been doin' the screwin'!" shouted Raph, storming towards Mikey whilst knocking over whatever was in his way. The veins on his temples throbbed, looking like they were trying to break out of his skin. "And it'll be _you _who's gonna be dancin' when I'm finished with ya. What the shell were ya thinkin', tellin' me that ya were dyin'?"

"I was just messing with you!" insisted Mikey, "Ow!" Raph picked him up by the tails of his mask. Don watched, unsurprised, remaining where he was sitting. He knew that he wouldn't have been any good at trying to get Raph off of his brother. Firstly, Don wasn't the best ninja in their family, whilst Raph was definitely the strongest. Secondly, while Don would admit that he did have a way with words, he knew they wouldn't have any impact on Raph apart from perhaps infuriating him more, which meant that persuading him would not really work. He sighed inwardly, hoping that Leo would come back soon.

"Guys!" Leonardo walked in with Angel by his side. Don told himself that it had just been a coincidence, and that he hadn't mentally summoned him. Raph dropped Mikey back onto the sofa, putting his hands roughly by his sides. Mikey groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Leo's eyes darted suspiciously between the pair, but he didn't want to say anything about it in front of Angel. "Angel has something to tell you all."

"Oh really?" said Raph dryly, glaring at his older brother.

"Go on Angel," Leo nudged her.

"Leo took me for a ride around New York," gabbled Angel, curling a lock of hair around her little finger. "It was amazing, seeing New York like you guys do every-" Leo coughed loudly. Angel stopped talking, purposely looking away from the other turtles. She laid her eyes on Don's workstation. It was on the other side of the room, hidden under a dark shadow. To her it was cold and isolated, so she didn't feel as bad if she talked in its direction. "I'm… I'm going."

"But you just got here!" exclaimed Mikey. "What's like, the point of popping in to tell us you're going?"

It made it harder that Mikey didn't understand. It meant that she would have to go into detail. Angel scrunched up her hands, pinching her palms. "I'm moving… away."

Raph looked stunned, but Mikey still hadn't taken it in. In fact, he looked excited. "Have you chosen the house? Is it big? Hey, we could bunk over whenever we're in the neighbourhood. I mean, your old room couldn't fit all us all in but maybe your new room can!"

"Mike, I'm not going to live in New York!" Angel half shouted, her throat raw even though she hadn't shouted or talked a lot recently. She faced him, lowering her eyes. "I'm going to live hours away from here."

That was language Mikey could understand. His face dropped, now knowing that one of his friends was moving away. He leant back on his seat, wanting to sink into the sofa and disappear. It was like April and Casey moving away forever… He studied Leo's face, longing for him to crack a smile and high five Angel for successfully tricking them. But Leo was frowning at them, and Mikey instantly knew that this was no joke. And he found that he wasn't sinking away, so he sat back up.

"But why?" asked Don, the first to find his voice again. "What's the matter with New York?"

"I'm living with my dad," Angel explained, "Look, I don't wanna talk about it. You just all need to know that Ryan and I are leaving tomorrow morning and I'm gonna miss you guys a lot."

"So I brought Angel here, because I thought we could have a small party," Leo said. "Mikey can sort out the snacks, while Raph and Angel can go get some pizza."

"We have pizza," piped up Mikey, going into the kitchen. He went to the freezer and pulled out a flat cardboard box. He opened it, inhaling its scent with a goofy grin on his face. Cold pizza smelled nearly as good as cooked pizza. "It's pepperoni and mushrooms."

"I don't like mushrooms," commented Leo. He quickly left the main room to go to his bedroom, before returning shortly with a few dollar notes. He pressed them into Raph's hands, "Go get some pizza, will you Raph?"

"Ya givin' me ya own money for _pizza_?" Raph shook his head in disbelief, wondering if he had walked into an alternative dimension. "I thought ya were savin' up for somethin'."

"Raph, Sensei left me in charge and if I don't like mushrooms then you have to get me plain pizza," snapped Leo, pointing to the door. "And don't think that I trust you not to spend the change on what you want. Angel, you go with him and watch what he spends my money on."

"Just 'cos Master Splinter left ya in charge, ya think that ya can do whatever ya want," Raph snarled, raising his fist. Angel caught it, before dragging him out of the lair. Raph's complaints slowly faded into silence as they got further away. Leo sat down on the armchair, putting up his feet.

"Tactfully done," Don complimented.

"All in a day's work," grinned Leo.

"So what am I doing for this party?" Don asked him, feeling restless. His fingers inched to do something, wanting to do more than just tapping against the armrest of the sofa.

"I don't think we need to do anything," replied Leo smugly. "I trust Mikey to prepare some good snacks. He's quite the chef now, isn't he?"

"You do remember the 'super duper awesome to the max ultra mega extreme' pizza he made yesterday, right…? Oh wait… you weren't here when we had our dinner last night, were you?" Don sighed, "Sensei reckoned that he had recovered, and he tasted some of Mikey's pizza, because we didn't want to and he didn't want Mikey to feel hurt… So not only has he got a cold, he's suffering from food poisoning as well."

"Mikey!" Leo ran into the kitchen as soon as the last syllable had floated out of his brother's mouth. Don, pleased that he had saved at least one person from a bad stomach-ache, decided to reward himself by having a brief go on his laptop. Leo entered the kitchen, grabbing Mikey's arms and putting them behind his shell.

"Huh? What?" gasped Mikey, having no idea what was happening.

"What snacks are we having?" asked Leo, not letting go.

"Ice-cream, popcorn, peanuts…" Mikey started hurriedly. Slightly satisfied, Leo let go of him and took a step back. Mikey shook his hands, wincing, "I don't know what the shell's up with you these days. You used to be all depressed, and now you want to twist my arms off like I'm a toy."

"I'm just concerned about everyone's health," replied Leo, reaching into a cupboard and looking for a jar of honey he was sure that they had. Most parties had sandwiches, and he wanted it to be the best farewell party Angel could possibly have. He found a small jar, and put it next to Mikey on the counter, before cutting some slices of bread.

The two prepared the food in silence. Mikey bit his tongue, holding in the question that he wanted to ask. Luckily, he soon lost himself in the kitchen, taking the time to measure ingredients and washing utensils more than thoroughly than usual. Leo stopped after a few minutes to watch him. Mikey didn't notice that he had discontinued helping him, too busy enjoying himself. Leo didn't comment at the amount of food he was preparing, but he did wonder if Mikey was overdoing it when he began flipping pancakes. Mikey was preparing about five different foods at the same time. Finding a particular food would be like finding Waldo.

Leo sighed, looking down at his plastron. He would have to do some extra training to lose weight.

He thought that Mikey was definitely overworking when he saw him pour some chocolate sauce onto a plate of chicken nuggets. "Uh… bro? You just put some chocolate onto those chicken nuggets." He pointed to the dish, which was lurking amongst the other plates and bowls.

Mikey rolled his eyes as if he had just said something stupid, "Duh. I call it 'Extreme Cool Chocotastic lip tingling' chicken nuggets!"

Leo edged away from them, no longer feeling hungry. "… Okay…"

Mikey picked one up and held it towards him, "Want one?"

"No thanks!" Leo held up his hands before lying, "I… uh, ate at Angel's earlier."

"Are Raph and Angel back yet?" asked Mikey, sprinkling sugar onto a bowl of chocolate ice-cream. Leo turned his head to the door of the kitchen. Mikey quickly stuck his fingers into the bowl of sugar, trying to get as much of it out as possible before Leo turned back around again.

"I don't think so, but they might be a while," replied Leo.

"Why-mph?" mumbled Mikey, sucking on his fingers. "It's not-mph that-th hard-th to get-th some-fer pizzumph."

"I have no idea what you just said," declared Leo, facing him again. Mikey yanked his fingers out of his mouth, hiding them behind his back.

"It's not that hard to get some pizza," repeated Mikey, edging towards the sink so that he could wash his hands.

"Yes, well…" Leo had that annoying look on his face that said 'I know something I think you're too young to understand'. He quickly left the room so that they couldn't continue the conversation. Mikey narrowed his eyes at his brother, sticking two of his fingers into the sugar bowl. He was tempted to lick some of it out, but even he thought that was too gross. He sighed. And his brothers complained about having to put up with _him_.

"You could have at least helped me!" Mikey called after Leo, gesturing towards the food in vain. Then he remembered the many adventures his sibling had in the kitchen, and decided that it was perhaps better that his oldest brother had not really helped that much at all.

***

"We were gone for about two hours and you didn't put up any decorations," Angel said, pretending to be disappointed with her hands on her hips. She raised her eyebrows at the lair, which looked like it usually did. However, she was pleased that her last memory of the place would be of what it normally looked like. "Where are all the balloons and stuff?"

"The Sewer Party Shop was out of stock," said Mikey, ruffling her hair.

"Hey, my hair's messy enough as it is!" Angel slapped his hand away. Mikey squeaked, and she began to chase him around the room. Raph shook his head, going over to a chuckling Leo and giving him a couple of coins.

"There ya go Scrooge," he said. "I didn't spend ya precious dimes." He followed Leo's gaze, watching Angel try and fail to wrestle Mikey to the ground. He curled his mouth disapprovingly, "I can't see why he's so happy. When he found out she was movin' earlier he deflated like a balloon or somethin'."

"So did you," remarked Leo snidely, hiding his mouth behind his hand and pretending to scratch his chin.

"But I ain't messin' about and bein' an idiot, am I?" Raph pointed out. "I ain't laughin'."

"Because you're choosing to be annoyed," replied Leo. "Being upset about it won't make her stay. Her grandmother died, so it's not like she has much choice in the matter. You should try and cope well with it, as that will help Angel cope as well."

Raph despised it when his brother was right; double so when it was about him. Determined not to leave the conversation in Leo's favour, he piped up, "But if we act like it doesn't matter, then she'll get offended or somethin'. She'll think that we don't mind that she's goin' away."

"But in turn she will think that it isn't something to mind," stated Leo.

Raph growled, "Since when did ya become a psychologist?"

"That isn't a very good argument," commented Leo, smiling smugly. "I expected better of you, Raph."

"Everything's like a competition with you two, isn't it?" Don commented, twisting his body around so that they could see his mischievous expression. "Even trivial things such as a simple conversation."

"I'd forgotten that you were here Don," said Leo.

"Yeah, quit tryin' to hide away and come join the party," smirked Raph, walking towards him slowly.

"Uh… you guys look like you're having fun without me, so I'll just- yikes!" Don exclaimed as Leo and Raph grabbed him from under the arms, lifting him into the air. He tried to wiggle free as they carried him to Angel, who was being sat on by a triumphant Michelangelo.

"The Battle Nexus Champion wins again!" Mikey held his fists together, shaking them above him in victory.

"Only 'cos your butt's so big," Angel mumbled, tapping her fingers against the ground. "How am I supposed to beat a sumo wrestler?"

"What? No way!" Mikey looked behind him, peering downwards. "I have a butt twice as small as-" Angel grinned, shoving her back upwards and knocking Mikey off of her. Then, she rotated her body and pinned him down, her face centimetres away from his. Mikey could hear his brothers laughing at him somewhere nearby. He was glad that Angel's face was blocking their view of his shocked expression, but slightly embarrassed that she could see him clearly.

"So much for your ninja training," Angel sat up, squirming on his chest to emphasize the fact that she had outsmarted him. "You were beaten by a human girl." She got off him without waiting for an answer, accepting her victory. Mikey grumbled, getting to his feet.

"Seriously though, is my butt that big?" asked Mikey, sounding slightly worried. It didn't bother him that much, because he was one hundred percent sure that there was nothing wrong with his figure… well… he thought that he was maybe ninety-nine percent sure. It was difficult, because his shell was obscuring his view. Mikey began to spin in circles as he tried to look around his shell, swivelling on his left heel. He was oblivious to the larger laughing fits that had erupted from the others. It was as if the small hurricane he had become made sound bounce off him before it could reach his ears (if he had any ears, anyway).

"Hey Don, ya smart," Raph jerked his thumb towards Mikey, "If I was to throw somethin' at him, what would happen?"

"Well, I suspect that the only thing that would occur would-" Raph snatched one of the dimes in Leo's hands and tossed it at his brother. It hit Mikey in the arm, before leaping through the air and landing a short distance away. He stopped suddenly, without losing his balance. Mikey rubbed his arm, but Don could see that it hadn't left a mark. Donnie rolled his eyes, "As usual Raph, you don't wait for me to finish my sentence."

"Ya were takin' too long," retorted Raph, "Anyway, I wanted to see if it exploded when it touched him."

"Explode?" repeated Leo, "Now I'm not an Einstein like Donnie, but I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't explode no matter how fast Mikey tried to spin."

"Yeah, ya say that _after _I threw it."

"Okay, maybe I was slightly curious."

"Guys!" Angel poked Raph on the head, "Let's not argue now. I can smell snacks, and I'm starving! Hey Mikey, I smell hot chocolate." She walked into the kitchen, licking her lips.

Don patted Mikey on the back, "It was nice of you, letting her defeat you like that."

"What? Oh," Mikey winked at him, laughing boldly, "I'm a nice guy… turtle… but I still don't get it."

"Can ya elaborate a li'l more? There are many 'it's that ya don't understand," Raph commented.

"I didn't make any hot chocolate."

"What the heck is that?" Angel screamed from the kitchen. "Is that freaking chocolate on those chicken nuggets?"

Don was going to say something, but he found that he couldn't think of any suitable words.


	20. The Bottle

**Thanks again for the reviews. :) Even if I don't reply to them, I still read them and each one makes me feel very happy.**

**Sorry if the truth, dare, kiss or promise bit was confusing. If you choose truth, you have to be prepared to answer any question you're asked. If you choose dare, you have to do whatever dare you're asked to do. If you choose promise, you have to promise to whatever you're told to promise. And if you choose kiss… yeah. Mikey explains the rest. I edited the bit with the last round. Tell me if it's easier to understand now. D:  
**

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They sat on the rug in front of the television, waiting for Michelangelo to return with the snacks. However, the other turtles weren't sure if they wanted any of the food Mikey prepared, if the chicken nuggets were anything to go by. He was taking a strangely long time, so Donatello guessed that he was bringing all the snacks in one go. It was obviously not a good idea when you took into account that he seemed to have made more meals than they had food. He was about to go help his brother when Mikey entered the room, hopping on one foot as he tried to make sure the food didn't topple over.

"I got them all," he declared, slowly making his way towards them. It didn't really look like Mikey was holding masses of food. It looked more like the masses of food were using Mikey as a pogo stick.

"Be careful not to drop any," warned Leonardo, transferring his weight to his feet in case he needed to move out of the way. It wasn't that he expected his brother to drop the food… actually, that was probably why he was ready to spring out of the way.

As soon as Leo finished his sentence, Mikey wobbled wildly. The others widened their eyes and jumped backwards. Mikey regained his balance immediately, beaming as he lowered his plate filled arms. "Just kidding."

"Ya a real barrel of fun, ya know that?" said Raph acerbically, moving slowly back to his original position.

"What, you thought I was going to spill them all over you?" asked Mikey, sounding pleased with himself.

"Pretty much," admitted Don, reaching over to the plain pizza Raph had bought earlier and choosing the biggest slice. "Judging by your posture, it looked like you were the 'leaning tower of Mikey'."

"You underestimate me," chuckled Mikey, plonking himself between Raph and Angel. He ignored the irritated grunt that came from his brother, distracting himself with a handful of peanuts. He stuffed them into his mouth, before coughing them out over the bowl. Leo scrunched up his face, moving his hand away from the bowl.

"Ya forgot to remove the shells," explained Raph, smirking at him.

"Now you tell me?"

"I was thinkin' about other stuff," shrugged Raph. "Hey, Angel, I was thinkin'… I know it's ya last night and all, so… if there's ever been anythin' ya wanted to do here, go ahead. Ya can start a clean record once ya leave."

Angel frowned, circling the rug with her finger. There were things that she had wanted to do before she no longer could, but she had gotten the news at such short notice. It wasn't as if she had the time to go through every single thing. She had thought she had her whole life to do all the stuff she'd wanted to do. Not just one, small night. Then came the matter of selecting the most important goal out of all the little ones she had. It just wasn't possible.

She looked at the turtles, who were watching her closely. Feeling self-conscious, she snapped, "Why don't you look at something else? You're creeping me out."

"We could look at the TV," suggested Mikey buoyantly, waving his hands towards the box. He looked so cheeky that Angel was tempted to go along with his suggestion. That way, she wouldn't have to think of anything to say. Right now it was like being at a birthday party; everyone wanted to be with you when you just wanted to be by yourself and play with one of your presents.

"Nice try," sneered Raph, hitting his brother on the head, "I know ya stupid cartoon is on now."

"How about we play a game?" Mikey scrambled to his feet, going over to the television. Then, he slid onto his chest and began going through the pile of games that were next to it.

"Mikey, we aren't playing video games," said Leo, glaring at the back of his head.

"I know," stated Mikey, rolling onto his shell and spinning around. Then, he sat up and held up an object in his hands. It was a clear, dusty glass bottle that had held soda at an earlier date, but was now empty. Parts of the outside of it were stained with something yellow, but it had been hidden there for so long that none of the turtles could recall what the substance had been. "Ta da! Isn't this so cool?"

"Oh I get it," Raph nudged Leo, who was sitting next to him. With his voice dripping with sarcasm, he added, "We're goin' to play 'look at the dirty bottle'. Hey, ain't that fun? Ya know what, Mikey? Ya ain't as stupid as I thought."

"Yep," Mikey winked at him, "Because to someone like _you, _it looks like a dirty bottle, but really it's a…" he lay it on the carpet in front of them and made it revolve on the spot. It didn't spin as spectacularly as he had anticipated, but it moved a satisfactory amount. "Truth or dare bottle."

"Wicked!" Angel's face flickered, and the smile that was now on her face made the others grin along with her. "I've always wanted to play this. Now I'll get to do some of the things I've wanted to do… or should I say…" she laughed softly, a hint of mischief in her tone. "All the things I've wanted _you _to do."

The three eldest turtles exchanged wary expressions, but Mikey was unfazed. He tightened his grip on the bottle, gazing at them with half-closed eyes in an attempt to look sinister. Unfortunately, it just looked like he had something in his eyes. "This is how it'll go. We spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on chooses truth, dare, kiss or promise. Then, we spin it again and the next person it lands on gets to come up with what the first dude has to do."

"Yeah yeah, we know how to play," Raph rolled his eyes, "We used to play this when we were little, remember?"

"Only when you were younger?" Angel raised an eyebrow. She would have played it all the time, if she had friends to play it with. She hadn't thought that they had ever played it before. Well… she would have played it until she got bored and found something more interesting to do. "But it's a fun game! Why'd you stop?"

"Master Splinter banned it from our household after an incident involving Donnie and a bucket of custard," explained Leo, looking towards the door of Splinter's room. It was closed shut, but their master had been in his room for quite a long time. There was every chance that the door would open and Splinter would catch them. And Leo, who had been left in charge, knew that he would be blamed if they played the game… especially if he was playing it with them.

"Yeah, but he said 'our household' in the first lair," Mikey rolled his eyes, finding a loophole in a matter of heartbeats. "We've moved twice since then. Besides, _you _were the one who dared Don to balance that custard on top of the door in the first place. It's your fault it was banned."

Leo crossed his arms, but didn't say anything. Mikey beamed, "Now that there aren't any more objections, we can begin." He flicked his wrist, sending the bottle in a mad wonky circle. It rotated for a few seconds, before stopping abruptly in front of Raph.

"Hey, that ain't fair!" exclaimed Raph, hitting his fist against the floor in protest. "Ya did that on purpose."

"Moi?" Mikey widened his eyes, pretending to look hurt. "The bottle chooses its victim, Raphie. Truth, dare, kiss or promise?"

Raph turned away, crossing his arms. "Ya cheated. Ya made it land on me. I ain't playin' with cheaters."

"Come on," Angel tapped him on the back of his arm. He turned around, and found to his dismay that she was pulling the 'puppy dog' face. Then, to his annoyance, he found Mikey's head beside hers with exactly the same facial expression. His eyes darted between the two. He sighed.

"Promise, then. But if it lands on ya, I ain't doin' anythin'."

"I'll spin it," offered Leo, smacking Mikey's hand away from the bottle and placing his on it instead. Before Raph could object, he pushed the bottle from its side and sent it going. After a couple of seconds, it came to a rest in front of Angel. Angel giggled, looking at Raph sideways.

"Eh, it's better than Mikey," shrugged Raph, reluctantly accepting the person it had chosen. "Okay then, go ahead and make me promise somethin'."

"Hm…" Angel stared up at the ceiling, trying to come up with something. There was a chance that it wouldn't land on the same people in the same order again, so she had to say her most important declaration first. She continued looking up, wanting to make the others wait. She grew sick of staring at the many pipes that twisted and turned on the ceiling, so she lowered her gaze and smiled. "I want you to promise that as soon as I'm eighteen, I can come and stay with you until I find a place to live here."

Raph shook his head, "No way."

Angel frowned at him, her mouth slightly open. Her face was about to crack when Raph chuckled, "Ya can come and stay over no matter how old ya are, Angel."

Angel's face cracked, but it was into a smile. She hugged him with one arm, hitting him on the head with the other. "You scare me like that again and you'll be sorry," she warned him, regaining her position as Raph rubbed the spot where she had hit him. "Come on, Leo, spin it again."

"Of course," said Leo, who had been distracted by them. The bottle spun again, this time halting in front of himself. Leo's face fell as the others laughed at his misfortune.

"Wise move," Mikey pointed at him, kicking his legs in front of him. He spoke again when he caught his breath, "Spin… spin it again, Leo. Oh man, you landed on yourself!"

"Poor me," replied Leo, though in actual fact he had planned it so that it would stop on him so they wouldn't think it was rigged. Mikey wasn't the only cunning turtle in their family. "Well, I think I'll choose truth." He thought briefly for a moment, before spinning it again. The bottle stopped, its open end pointing towards the purple masked turtle.

"Hey Don," Mikey vibrated up and down in his excitement. He had wanted it to land on him, but he had had a suspicion that it wouldn't. "Ask him… ask him…"

"I already know what I'm going to ask," Don told Mikey. He smiled innocently at Leo, which made Leo think that Don had something… uncomfortable in mind. "Where were you earlier?"

Leo narrowed his eyes, instantly remembering where he had been. Behind his brothers' heads, he could see Mikey miming slitting his throat. Leo took his eyes off him, determined to ignore his brother. He squeezed his knees, examining the pads that were on them.

They were very clean, just as he liked them, and they weren't damaged. Unlike Mikey's, who used his sometimes as a coaster for his drinks. They were quite a nice shade of brown, in his opinion, but he thought that maybe they could be a bit-

"Hey Fearless," Raph knocked on his head, "You still here?"

"I was with Angel," lied Leo, the words making his stomach drop. Granted, it was only a daft game, but he had still _lied. _He quickly took hold of the bottle and made it go around again, before anyone could comment on what he had said. The bottle stopped and pointed towards the same turtle as before. "You're up again, Don."

Donnie groaned, but he didn't question it. There was every chance that it would land on him twice in a row. "Okay, I'll go with truth as well."

Leo nodded, spinning the bottle. It came to a halt on Mikey. Don stared at the bottle in horror, hoping that it would suddenly move and land on someone else. Mikey got to his feet and did a small victory dance, though it looked more like he was having a seizure. After a few angry tugs from the others, he sat back down, keeping his merry expression.

"You're kidding me," Don remarked. "Come on Leo, you did that on purpose."

"Hey, it's like Mikey said. The bottle chooses its victim," Leo reached behind Raph and patted Mikey on the shoulder. "Have fun Mike."

Mikey's smile was even bigger than it had been before. He mumbled to himself, going through all the questions he had in mind as he tried to decide which one was the best. He counted the options on his fingers, before trying to conclude which one would be more fun for him. After a silent debate with himself, Mikey's eyes sparkled. "If you could know one more thing in the world, what would it be?"

Don blinked, taken aback by Mikey's question. He had been prepared for something humiliating and uncomfortable. He leant forwards, trying to figure out why his brother had asked that question. Mikey had often commented that Don knew everything (not that he agreed with him, of course), so he couldn't understand what Mikey would want to know about him. His brother winked at him, pointing towards Don's laptop. Donnie instantly knew what Mikey wanted him to say. He shrugged, acting like the question didn't bother him as much as it actually did. "I want to know how Sensei's doing. He's been in his room for quite a while, and I'm beginning to worry. I might check on him after this game."

Mikey's face fell, but Don chose to not pay any attention to it. He knew that Master Splinter was fine, because it wasn't as though a cold would kill him overnight. Sensei was getting older and the cold would have affected him more than his young healthy sons, but Splinter was pretty strong. Don nodded at Leo, "Spin it again, bro."

The game went on. Angel got Don to sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' after he refused to sing the Justice Force theme song, having claimed that he didn't know the lyrics. Mikey revealed that he had believed in the tooth fairy until he had found his teeth in a box under Splinter's bed, after he had been asked by Raph. Then, Leo had promised Raph that he would clear up the snacks after Angel had gone home. The mention of home had brought everyone into a painful silence, remembering why they were playing the game in the first place.

Raph, annoyed at himself for having raised the whole 'going home' thing, jabbed at Leo's arm angrily. "Aren't ya gonna spin the bottle again?"

"Maybe we should stop," said Don, "We don't want the snacks to get cold."

"One more time," demanded Mikey, snatching the bottle so that it was in front of him. "And this time, whoever it lands on has to choose kiss."

"Why?" asked Don, pulling a horrified face at Leo, who looked as unwilling as he did. He didn't want to kiss _anyone _in the room. He would rather sing another nursery rhyme. In fact, he would prefer to print the lyrics of the Justice Force TV show and sing them. "Look, the chicken nuggets aren't even hot anymore. We should eat them before they're too cold."

"I wouldn't eat them even if they were still warm," commented Angel, eyeing them with disgust. "But Don has a point, Mikey. Why'd you want to do that?"

"Because no one chose it," explained Mikey, "I mean, how lame was that? This will be the last one, I promise." He dragged the end table towards him, before taking the food off of it. When it was clear of all plates, he put the bottle on it and spun it. The bottle rotated a lot faster than it had done on the rough floor, as well as moving for a longer amount of time. They watched it, holding their breath. After a minute, it slowed down and stopped on Angel.

"Oh," Angel blinked. She didn't know what else to say.

"And here it goes again. Whoever it lands on this time gets to choose who the lucky turtle is," declared Mikey. The bottle swivelled around rapidly, before coming to a standstill in front of…

"Me?" said Don, "I have to choose?"

"Yes," Leo told him, "So go on and decide. Then this silly game will be over, and we can think of something better to do."

"Yeah, you can come help me bro," Don got to his feet and pulled Leo up with him, "If you're so eager to finish."

Leo followed him to the other side of the main room, so they were standing in Don's lab. The computer screen was showing what looked like an internet page, but before he could see what it was about Don flicked the screen off. Don sighed, looking at Leo sadly, "I don't know what to do. It's obvious that if I choose one of them, the other turtle will get annoyed at me."

"It's simple. Choose Raph," said Leo, as if it was obvious.

"Leo, I can't just choose Raph," Don answered, wiping his forehead. "What about Mikey?"

"Look," He put his hands onto Don's shoulders. "Mikey will get over it. You know what he's like; he'll move on. He doesn't think about the past too much. He knows it's a game that, might I add, I said we shouldn't play. He brought it onto himself."

"But…" Leo twisted his body and walked back towards the others. Don glowered at his brother's back, going after him. He had hoped that his brother would be able to help him, and in his defence he had told him what he would do. But still… Don didn't want Mikey to get upset. He knew that Mikey would act like he didn't mind and poke fun at his older brother, but he would probably not understand why Don chose Raph over him. He was far closer to Don than Raph. But if he was to choose Mikey, he knew he would rub it in Raph's face for a long time, and Raph would be cold towards both of his brothers.

"So who's it going to be?" asked Angel, looking between Mikey and Raph worriedly.

Don took a deep breath. He hoped that he was saying the right thing. "I pick…"

* * *

**Methinks the next chapter will have an epic plot twist. *evil laugh***


	21. The Surprise

**Two days late. D: Sorry... my laptop was borrowed and not given back until like now. But here's the next chapter.

* * *

**"So who's it going to be?" asked Angel, looking between Mikey and Raph worriedly.

Don took a deep breath. He hoped that he was saying the right thing. "I pick…"

"Wait," Leonardo held up his hand for silence, raising his head. He got to his feet, looking fixedly towards the door to the lair. Donatello sighed out in relief, thankful for the distraction. It gave him more time to think about his options.

"Come on," groaned Michelangelo, disliking the sudden pause. He had become aware that he hadn't been breathing, and as dangerous as that sounded he had enjoyed the tension. "Leo, you're like, ruining the game."

Leo ignored him, walking away from the scene. His feet barely lifted off the ground as he tried to be as quiet as possible. Halfway towards the lair's exit, he turned his head back and locked eyes with Raph. Very slowly, he pointed to his brother's belt. Confused, Raph looked down and tried to figure out what his brother wanted him to do. The only things that were in his belt were his…

Raph nodded at Leo, rising out of his sitting position and taking out his sai. As he walked past Don, he nudged him gently with his foot. Don jerked his head at him, reaching behind him and picking up his bo staff. Angel sat frozen to the spot, catching onto what was happening but still not knowing what to do. Mikey jumped to his feet and spun his nunchucks, before winking at Angel. She smiled at him, feeling slightly reassured.

"Who's there?" asked Don quietly, pointing towards the door. He couldn't think of any other explanation for his brother's weird behaviour, so he presumed that someone was there. Leo had an unusual habit of being correct frequently. It was difficult to decide whether this was a gift or a curse.

"Is it the bogeyman?" added Mikey. He knew that it obviously wasn't, but he didn't want to think about who it actually could be. There were dozens of people that he didn't want to answer the door too.

"I don't know," mumbled Leo, shuffling forward a few feet. His held one of his katana blades out in front of him, resting the other one against his chest defensively.

"So how do ya know someone's there?" asked Raph, swiftly moving forwards so that he was next to his brother. He couldn't hear or sense anything that would imply someone was outside. But then again, he didn't meditate as much as his brother said.

"I just do," said Leo vaguely, reaching the door. Raph growled, disappointed with his explanation, but he didn't question it for once. If there was someone there, they might as well find out who it was and get it over and done with.

Leo clenched his katanas tightly, positioning himself directly in front of the door. That way, he was blocking whoever was nearby from attacking his family straight away. Mikey just thought that Leo wanted to block his view in case it was a surprise, like a giant cake. Mikey licked his lips, thinking how funny it would be if a giant cake was on the other side of the door... or maybe pizza... He focused on the scene once more when Leo stated, "Okay guys, be ready…"

"… for anything," Mikey said at the exact same time as his brother. Leo cast him a dark look, which was met by a smile from his youngest brother. He rolled his eyes and took hold of the door handle. Then, he pulled it open.

Leo threw his katanas into the air, jumping backwards and standing briefly on his hands, before flipping upright once more and catching his weapons, all in a swift moment. A Foot ninja slammed their sword into the ground where the turtle had been only a moment ago, getting it stuck tight in the floor. Before he could wretch it free, his face met Raph's fist. The ninja stumbled backwards, resting the back of his hand against his cheek. The turtles stood over him curiously, trying to make out what had just happened.

"A Foot ninja?" Leo exclaimed, widening his eyes in disbelief. "How did he find our lair?"

"Why don't you ask his friends?" suggested Don, gesturing towards the other Foot ninjas that were now entering the lair. They stood close together as they all scurried through, before separating and occupying as much of the lair as possible. It made it look like there were far more than there actually was, which was most likely the desired effect.

Angel got to her feet, her movement not going unnoticed by the others. Raph twisted his head so that he was facing her, "Don't move, Angel."

"You aren't my mom," snapped Angel, the situation making her feel like she was imploding. Letting out some anger made her feel bigger and not so afraid. Nonetheless, she remained rooted to the spot. She wished she was a ninja, because then she'd have a weapon. Of course she would only be able to swing it, having not been trained with any… but it still would have reassured her slightly.

Leo wanted to close the door so no more could come in, but to his annoyance he found that it was blocked off by an Elite Foot ninja. He groaned inwardly, gazing at them. They weren't making any attempt to fight the turtles; they were waiting for them to attack first. He could feel Raph's body shaking with rage, longing to jump out of the close-knit circle they had made so that he could attack the intruders. Leo caught his gaze and shook his head, before facing the Elite Foot ninja that was blocking the closed door.

"Why are you here?" he asked. He heard a ripple of laughter wash over their enemies, as they wondered how the turtles' leader could ask a question that had such an obvious answer. He ignored them, his eyes glued to the Elite.

"Master sent us," he replied, his trident pointed towards him.

"Karai?" Leo blinked, "But… why?"

There was another ripple of laughter. Leo's brothers looked at him sadly. The Elite shook his head, remaining silent. Then, he held up his weapon and the room fell silent. He smirked, "What do you think, you situpid turtle?"

Leo growled, masking his humiliation with anger. "What have we done to provoke this attack? We helped your master a few months ago against the Darkness." He pointed his katana at them, shaking only very faintly. "I spared her life!"

The surrounding Foot ninjas moved slightly when he raised his katana, but they didn't attack without the Elite's permission. The Elite sighed, shaking his head pityingly. "You are blinded by your beliefs in what is right and wrong. We do not share your pointless views. If you wanted to stay alive, you should have killed her when you had the chance. Now you will die in her name."

The Elite Foot ninja ran forwards and slashed his trident through the air, but luckily Leo's fast reactions enabled him to block in time. The Foot took this as a sign that the duel had begun, and ran forwards with their weapons held out.

Another Elite, who had been standing amongst the lower class ones, shouted, "Destroy whatever you lay your eyes on!"

"Hey!" said Mikey indignantly, wrapping his nunchuck around a Foot ninja's sword blade and yanking it away from him. "We don't go around and mess with your stuff." He punched the Foot ninja in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Oh wait… we do. But it's cooler when we do it to you!"

"Shut up and concentrate," snarled Raph, jumping over to Mikey and holding up his sai. He caught the axe that an Elite Foot ninja had attempted to strike Mikey with, and twisted it out of his grip. Then, he slammed into the Elite and started to fight him.

"Thanks bro," Mikey smiled, holding up his hand to wave at him. His nunchuck hit against a Foot ninja's face, who had been sneaking up on him from behind. The ninja gasped, before falling to his knees. Mikey turned around and looked down at him, puzzled.

Raph punched the Elite in the face before jumping back. Pausing for breath, he used this moment to give his brother a thumbs up. "No problem. I like helpin' people who are lackin' a brain."

Mikey nodded, before realizing what his brother had said. "Hey!" However, he soon forgot about Raph's remark because a dozen Foot ninjas pounced on him. Don noticed this and ran over, using his bo staff to knock away his brother's attackers.

"Mikey!" bellowed Leo, neatly dodging out of the way of his opponent's trident. When he didn't get a response, he put more force into his next attacks so that the Elite would be dazed for a few seconds. "Mikey, you're okay?"

"As okay as you can be in a fight to the death," answered Mikey, lifting his foot up and ramming it into a Foot ninja's chest. They fell backwards, the air knocked out of them. "Thanks for asking."

Leo backed away from the Elite, standing next to Mikey. They were facing opposite directions, waiting for their opponent to make the next move. Leo lowered his voice so that the Foot couldn't hear them. "We need to escape."

"Huh?" Mikey whacked a Foot ninja in the face with his nunchuck. "But we're not losing. I think we're doing pretty well."

"We can't stay with Angel here," explained Leo, staring the now recovered Elite ninja down. He scowled at him, his eyes twitching a bit as he narrowed them. The Elite widened his red eyes in contrast, refusing to strike the turtle only so that he could be counterattacked in response.

Mikey threw his head in the teenager's direction. Raph had taken the liberty of keeping her behind him in a corner, but this meant that he was trapped too. Raph attacked whichever challenger dared to try and harm him, but he was beginning to get overwhelmed by the vast number. Don was battling a group of ninjas, tiring not because of the skill they had, but by the fact that there were so many. Mikey gulped, spinning his nunchucks in front of him.

"You're right," Mikey told him gravely, "But how the shell are we meant to get out?"

"Raph will leave with Angel," said Leo, transferring his weight to the foot that he had just placed forwards. "Don will distract them, while you and I get Sensei. That's the plan, anyway. But I doubt it's going to stick."

Mikey had nearly forgotten that their sick master was still in the lair. His heart thumped as he looked at the shut door. Suppose a ninja had snuck in without them noticing, and had seen Master Splinter asleep in bed? He would be such an easy victim; all the ninja would have to do was cut off his head.

Leo felt Mikey's body stiffen. "Don't worry, none of them have gotten in. I've been watching the door."

"But the Elite can like, teleport!" hissed Mikey, not reassured in the slightest. He hoped that his brother would say something that would prove him wrong, but the leader's face paled as horror dawned onto it. He counted the number of Elites in the room, only finding two of them.

"Cover me," commanded Leo, running through the Foot ninjas. The Elite with the trident shot forwards, hitting the bottom of Mikey's shell. The young turtle cried out in surprise, turning around and slamming his foot into the Elite's manhood. The Elite gasped in pain, his knees facing each other briefly.

"They have prisons for people like you," Mikey told him, before chasing after his brother. He ignored the Foot ninjas that were trying to strike him with their weapons. He even managed to ignore the Foot ninjas that were destroying their televisions. Don didn't know where his brothers were going, but he tried to distract as many Foot ninjas as possible by shouting at them.

Leo reached the door to Splinter's room and opened it. He slipped inside before closing it, hoping that no one else had noticed. He turned his head forwards, praying in his head that his master was alright.

Splinter jumped out of the way of an Elite ninja's twin bladed sword, while knocking the spear out of the other Elite's hands with his walking stick. Then, he jumped over their heads and landed next to Leo. The turtle watched with admiration, smiling despite the situation they were in.

"Leonardo," Splinter said, bringing Leo back down to Earth. "What has happened? I was reading in bed when they appeared. Do you know why they are at our home?"

"No Master," replied Leo, his katana making impact with the Elite's twin blade. "Apparently Karai sent them, but she wouldn't do that again… would she? I mean, we aren't at war with each other anymore, right?"

"Right," Splinter said, hiding the doubt in his voice. Sometimes, he wondered whether his son was too trusting of others for his own good. He only allowed himself to think about this briefly, before engaging once more in battle. The other Elite had picked up his spear, and had began trying to stab Splinter. The rat jumped out of the way, leaping onto any nearby flat surface, repeating the process a few times. He leaped forwards, kicking the Elite in the face rapidly. Splinter landed on his feet, which could not be said for the Elite as he fell onto his back, defeated.

Leo backed out of the room, bringing the other Elite with him. Splinter, seeing that he was managing with his fight, went to aid his other sons. Mikey joined Leo by his side, unsure whether his brother needed help. "Hey Leo, I thought we were going."

"We are," snapped Leo, ducking and kicking at the Elite's foot. He tripped him over, quickly standing up again. "Go tell the others."

Mikey nodded, running over to Don. Splinter was fighting with him, knocking out a Foot ninja every few seconds. The pair watched the approaching turtle, but they didn't lower their guard. Mikey stopped in front of him, panting. All the fighting was beginning to tire him out.

"Leo…" Mikey swung his nunchuck at a Foot ninja, before shoving him out of his way. "Leo says that we've got to leave."

"Tell that to them," replied Don, flipping over his bo staff and kicking a ninja in the chin. He landed, wiping the sweat from his face.

"He wants Raph to get Angel out of here," Mikey told Don, pointing to the people he had just said the names of. You could barely see Raph in the sea of Foot ninjas, who had gathered around them in their dozens.

"We have no other choice," Splinter told him, making his way to the exit. "Michelangelo, tell your brothers to meet me at the site of our old lair."

"'Kay," Mikey said, "Donnie, you go tell Raph and Angel. I'll tell Leo."

"Be careful bro," Don told him sternly, using his bo as a pole and flying over the Foot ninja's heads. Mikey waited a moment, basking in the fact that someone had actually did something he had asked them to do. A punch from a Foot ninja recaptured his attention, and he knocked out the ninja in a few strong blows.

"Leo!" shouted Mikey, rushing over to his brother. He was fighting a pair of Elites, his katanas darting around like flies on a rubbish bin. Leo hit the two Elites, causing them to flinch, before flipping backwards and landing next to him. "Sensei says we're going back to the first lair."

"Okay," nodded Leo, "You go on without me. I'll join you in just a minute."

Mikey ran off, rushing past Raph. The red masked turtle glanced over at Leo, before fighting his way over, trying to be as casual as possible. Angel hung by his side, hiding under Raph's protective arm. He used his sai to disarm one of the Elites, positioning his head next to his brothers. "Come on Leo. We're goin' now."

Leo gritted his teeth, "I know that Raph. But we can't all go at once, or else they'll notice. The others have to slip out first and _then_ we'll make a break for it. Have the others gone?"

Raph looked over his shoulder and examined the room as Leo charged forwards, furiously slashing at the Elite ninjas.

"It looks like it bro. Some of the Foot are leavin', but the others will lose 'em. We know the sewers better than they do, and they ain't gotta clue where our old lair is. They'll be fine," he said the last bit to make him feel less nervous. Raph hated feeling nervous. The emotion was nearly as bad as being scared.

"I'm right behind you," said Leo, pushing Raph's back, "Come on, move it! Stop looking so gormless."

"Keep ya shell on," growled Raph, reluctantly doing as he was told. Personally, he wanted to stay and take down all of the Foot, but he admitted to no one but himself that he couldn't. His body stung from protecting Angel, and he didn't know how much more he could take.

"Don't do anythin' stupid," Raph demanded, beginning to leave.

"That sounds odd coming from you," chuckled Leo, slashing the Elite with the axe in the chest. They fell down, finally unconscious. Leo put his katanas back into his sheath, running after Raph and Angel, who had already departed from the lair. He was a metre away from the door when something exploded against it, causing it to set alight. Glass decorated the floor in front of the door, mixed in with a large puddle of petrol.

Leo stepped backwards, ducking as another glass bottle whipped past his head. He stared at the flaming door, which he could no longer go through. The remaining Foot circled him. There were a lot less of them than before, but there were still plenty left and two of the Elites were still on their feet. A small huddle of ninjas was blocking the other exit on the opposite side of the room. He wondered what he had done to deserve this.

"Let me through," said Leo, refusing to show that he was intimidated by them.

"Your family mentioned your old lair," the Elite with the trident said. The two missing Elites appeared by his side in a puff of smoke, so there were now four of them again. If the Elites hadn't been wearing a red scarf around their mouths, Leo would have known that they were smiling. Somehow, he had a suspicion that they were. The Elite waved his trident sinisterly, "Where is it located?"

"I'm really going to tell you, aren't I?" replied Leo coolly, not fazed by the Elite. He had been defeated by them the first time they had clashed, but he was surer of his ability now. He thought so, anyway. He was pretty sure.

There was a murmur amongst the Foot as they watched the turtle with fear and admiration. They fell silent immediately when the Elite with the spear looked at them. Leo smiled faintly at the slight pink on their faces.

The Elite with the trident growled, "So you are not going to tell us where the rest of you are?"

"I'd rather die," retaliated Leo bravely, determined to remain loyal until the end.

The Elite nodded, "Yes, but unfortunately for us that is not going to happen anytime soon. You will be brought to our Headquarters, and we will make you talk there… or your family will come and collect you. Either way, you will all be destroyed."

They smirked, holding out their hand and pointing their thumb downwards.

"Get him."


	22. The Wait

**I hope you all liked the twist.** **:D**

* * *

Michelangelo ran through the sewers, looking at the unfamiliar yet recognizable surroundings. He couldn't remember the last time he had been around this part of the underground. He hadn't been to their first home since what seemed to be forever.

'This', he thought to himself, 'was where me and my bros grew up. Where we learned to walk, talk, fight and where we had our first slice of pizza'.

It didn't look different to the rest of the sewers. It had the same dirty, unwashed walls. There were small rats scuttling across the ground, fearing him just as much as they feared any other creature. He counted how many of each colour there were, trying to distract himself from dwelling on what had happened earlier.

Brown. Grey. Another grey. Brown…

The floor was filthier than the walls, lined up on either side of the murky brown water. It was cold and uninviting, completely different to what he remembered it to be like. It had lost some of its magic… or maybe it never had any to begin with. What if it had always been this horrible, but his view on his old home had changed over time so he wouldn't think badly of it?

He shook his head. It was sewer water. Why was he arguing with himself about water that the humans had flushed away?

Mikey looked behind him, checking to see if any Foot ninjas were following him. He stopped, not even breathing. It looked like nobody was there… but one can never tell what lurks in the underground. He waited until he was satisfied with the silence before continuing his way along, constantly looking over his shoulder.

He passed by a strange rectangular block of red bricks, before exclaiming, "Rewind!" and walking back a couple of steps. It stood out against the sandy wall, but if he hadn't known better he would have glanced at it without a second thought. He chuckled, pressing one of the bricks.

The bricks surrounding the one he pressed began to slide out of view, and soon there was a doorway to walk through. Mikey cackled, rubbing his hands together, "I feel like Harry Potter."

He walked into the old lair, his eyes surveying the room as memories slid into his mind. There was a broken practice dummy lying against a pile of rubble. Raphael had told him when they were about five that at night it came alive and that it was waiting for the right moment to eat him, and Mikey hadn't slept for weeks after that. He smiled, remembering the amount of chores Raph had had to do after that incident.

He wondered if they would have still been living here if the mousers hadn't wrecked their home. They probably would have, but then they might have never met April. They would have never met Casey, Angel, Shredder, Hun, Karai…

"Mikey!" Angel ran up to him and hugged him, laughing nervously. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am," Mikey grinned, posing slightly. "The Foot are nothing compared to me."

"Nice modesty you have there," commented Donatello, who was sitting on a large chunk of what had been the ceiling. Near him, Master Splinter was sitting with his back against the large wall of debris that divided the lair in half, sighing in relief at his youngest son's presence. "I'm glad I repaired the door here a while back. Originally, it had been so that some sewer workers wouldn't get suspicious at the mess, but now it's doing a good job hiding us."

Mikey ignored him, too busy grinning at Angel.

"Did you see Leo or Raph?"

"They left after me," Mikey told him. Angel, satisfied that he was in front of her, let go of him and sat next to Don, sharing his seat. Mikey looked over his shoulder, nervous. He hoped that they had left after him. "They know where the lair is, right?"

"Of course they do," Don reassured him, "We all know the lair like the back of our hands. I bet Raph stayed behind a bit to try and beat up some more Foot ninjas, and then Leo got him to go and went after him. They'll be here soon."

Mikey nodded gravely, sitting down on the ground. It was dirtier than he remembered, after being gone from it for so long. He stroked the ground before raising his hand to his face. Seeing the state of it, he pulled a stricken face and wiped it on his thigh. He breathed shallowly, the place too dark for his liking. He wished that there was some more light, but he suspected the electricity had been cut off when the mousers had broken into their home. The only source of light was from a candle, which Master Splinter must have brought with him.

Like a moth, Mikey was drawn to it. He shuffled over to it and sat in front of it, rubbing his hands together. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to be bathed in light because it made him feel safe, or whether it was because he was uneasy being in the dark. Don and Angel joined him, and the quartet huddled around the tiny flame.

"Ryan will be annoyed that I ain't home," complained Angel, tucking her legs up so that they were against her chest. "He said I had to be home by like eight. I'm gonna be in big trouble."

"We're in a cramped hole with no electricity and all you can think about is your brother being mad at you?" asked Mikey, his voice incredulous and a higher pitch than usual.

"Don't remind me," Angel placed her hands on her ears, chewing her lower lip.

"It's hard to forget when you're in the cramped hole," Mikey told her. "Raph and Leo still aren't back and-"

Mikey felt something hit the back of his head. He rubbed it, grumbling, before realizing who had hit him. Only one turtle hit him that hard and that was-

"Raph!" Mikey exclaimed, too happy to hide the relief in his voice. "You're okay! What took you so long?"

"'Course I'm alright," Raph plonked himself next to Mikey. He was touched that Mikey had been so worried about him, but he wasn't going to show that in this lifetime. "I took a detour to shake off any stray Foot ninjas. Aw… were ya worried about me?"

"No," said Mikey, "I uh… just wanted to know so I could have first dibs on your stuff."

"Sure, Shell-head," snickered Raph, not pointing out that their stuff was with the Foot so Mikey couldn't have it. "Leo should be comin' soon. I left just before him."

"What if Leo doesn't come?"

Raph chuckled, "Hey, if ya can get here then Leo can too."

"Raphael," Splinter said sternly, before coughing into his sleeve. He hadn't completely recovered from his cold, and he knew that it wouldn't do if they argued now of all times. He gazed around, trying to find something that would keep them occupied for the time being. It was difficult when everything had been salvaged when they had moved out. "Let us pass the time. Michelangelo, how was Venus when she visited our home?"

"Super," Mikey beamed, though his stomach lurched when he remembered Leo. They had thought he would be fine before when Shredder returned for the first time, but hadn't they been proved wrong when Leo went through April's window? He was so worried that he didn't question how Splinter knew Venus' name, when none of them had seen him after 'her' arrival.

Don opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but he closed it before saying something else. "How do you think they found the lair? I camouflaged it to the extent that we had to take April and Casey there because they couldn't find it by themselves for the first few weeks of us living there."

"I hope this doesn't like, become a tradition," Mikey sighed, his stomach rumbling. They had eaten earlier at the party, but he couldn't help it if he was hungry now as well. He felt empty.

"Hey, if it did then we could mark it on the calendar," said Don, "And then we could prepare for each… attack…" The others were staring at him as if he was crazy. "I was joking, guys."

"Oh," Splinter coughed, looking towards the entrance of the lair worriedly. "Yes, well. I believe that we will have to stay here overnight. The Foot will be scouting the area."

"How long do you think they'll be here for?" asked Angel, looking at her watch. It was way past eight, and she knew for a fact that Ryan didn't know she was situated under his feet, sitting amongst things she didn't even want to think about.

"Ages," said Raph, sticking his legs out in front of him. "Leo better get a move on before it's impossible for him to get here unseen."

Mikey furrowed his brow in concern, "Why is he taking so long? What if he-"

"Just shut up," shouted Raph. Don and Angel covered his mouth with their hands automatically. Raph said something that sounded like a cuss from behind their hands, before shaking his head and breaking free. He glared at Donnie, who just shrugged his shoulders whilst trying to look innocent.

"We must try and remain quiet," Splinter told them calmly, "Although we are hidden, the walls have ears."

Mikey looked at one of the walls, "Really? I swear they didn't have any before."

"Michelangelo, you know what I mean," Splinter pressed his temples with his fingers. "Leonardo will be here any moment. We must trust him."

The group sat in silence, turning to the lair's entrance as if he was about to walk in on cue. When he didn't, they sighed and stared at the flickering and now dying candle. Mikey didn't know if they had any more, but he hoped that they did. He didn't want to sit in the dark when there were Foot ninjas surrounding the outside of their home. They could discover their lair at any moment, and Mikey wanted to be able to see them come in. He groaned, lying on his stomach before watching the light of the candle dance. It wasn't TV, but it would have to do.

Mikey was nearly asleep when he saw some movement out of his half-closed eyes. He lifted his head slightly and saw that Raph was on his feet. He marched towards the door, mumbling something Mikey couldn't understand. Just before the red clad turtle reached it, Splinter piped up, "Raphael? What are you doing?"

"Look," Raph turned around, having guessed what his master was about to tell him. "I ain't gonna sit here while Leo's still out there. Ya know how much trouble he gets himself in."

Splinter nodded, "Yes Raphael; I just wanted you to wait a moment."

To everyone's surprise, Splinter stood up and joined Raph by his side. "Come, let us hurry. Hopefully he has escaped the Foot and is nearby."

They left together, and the room was still once more. Don and Mikey exchanged nervous looks. If Splinter was going with him, then he must have been very worried. He usually trusted his sons to find a particular brother should he be missing; it was rare that he actually went with them.

Angel didn't look like she was nearly as worried as they were. From what she had seen of the rat master, he was more than capable of looking after himself. He was their teacher. It was hard enough defeating the turtles, so obviously beating Splinter would be even harder. She yawned, before getting out her cell phone. She was going to have to explain to her brother that she would be a little delayed getting home.

Don and Mikey watched her get it out, not having anything better to do. The only topic that they could think of to discuss was what could have happened, and if they just sat there thinking they would think about the same topic and feel even worse than before. Angel gulped as she waited for Ryan to answer, looking as though she was about to be invited to a funeral.

"May the force be with you," said Mikey, knowing who she was calling. Angel's mouth twitched, but she couldn't manage a smile. She got on well with Ryan, but she didn't think that he would be thrilled to hear that she wouldn't be home for some time.

"Bro," said Angel, leaning back slightly and putting on a falsely bright voice. "It's me, Angel. I know that I'm meant to be home right now, but I'm staying the night at a friend's house."

Mikey could hear Ryan's voice blast out of the speaker, sounding downright furious. As he ranted, Angel's face drooped slightly. She shuffled uncomfortably, waiting for him to pause so that she could say something in response. Her face reddened as she listened, all too aware that the others could hear him shouting at her.

"I know that I promised…" Angel cut in when he paused for breath. "It's just… um… I don't want to move. I like living here and I ain't coming home so you can dump me in some smelly town in the countryside."

It wasn't the main reason, but she didn't think she could tell him that she was underground because the Foot were after them. She couldn't even tell him about the turtles. They had persuaded him that they were part of a bad dream when they had met the first and only time. It would be far too complicated to tell him that it hadn't been a nightmare. She didn't like talking to Ryan like this, but sometimes one had to be cruel to be kind.

Mikey made out the words 'baby' and 'irresponsible'. Angel's face reddened, but this time it was with anger. "I'll come home when I'm ready, okay? I'm just letting you know that I'm alive. I guess that was a stupid idea!" She hung up, throwing her cell phone at the wall. It smashed on impact, tiny pieces of machinery raining down. Angel glared at it, before twisting her body so that she was facing away from it.

Mikey opened his mouth to say something, but Don elbowed him and shook his head. Ignoring his brother, Mikey sat down next to Angel. She was staring fixedly at the wall, concentrating on not crying. He sighed, crossing his legs and gazing at her sympathetically. He caught his friend's attention,and she turned to him expectantly.

"Your bro's a loser."

"He's not," Angel said, but in a tone of voice that told him that she wasn't going to argue against her statement. "He's usually really laidback, but now Nan's died he has to do all the worrying she did about me. It's tough for him."

"He's still a loser," insisted Mikey.

Angel forced herself to giggle. "He can be, yeah."

They fell silent once more. After a minute, Don began to search thoroughly through the rubble, hoping that something had been left behind. Mikey helped him, though he didn't quite know what he was meant to be keeping an eye out for. It just gave him something to do. Angel wasn't in any rush to put her hands in the filthy lumps of rocks, so she took off her jacket and lay it on the ground, before resting her head on it. She closed her eyes, thinking about how dead the place smelt.

Mikey paused when he saw her resting. Seeing her sleeping made him feel tired. He stood up and went next to her. He didn't have any clothes to use as a pillow, so he had to make do with the hard cold ground. Little particles of stone stung the back of his head but he didn't care. All Mikey wanted to do was rest and wake up to see his family all together again.

Don dropped a chuck of concrete and turned around. They were asleep already. He smiled, before saying to no one in particular, "I'll take first watch then."

"Wake up!"

Mikey felt something poke his arm. He furrowed his brow, before swatting it away and rolling onto his side. Couldn't they see he was exhausted? He had been dreaming about surfing on a wave of pizza sauce, riding on a piece of garlic bread. He didn't want to wake up just yet.

"Wake up, moron."

The voice was familiar, but it wasn't the kind of voice he wanted to wake up to. He mumbled something about five more hours, before attempting to fall back to sleep. However, before he could return to his dream and win the surfing championship another voice chimed.

"My son, you must get up."

Mikey tore his mind away from the dream, sitting up and blinking. It was still very dark, but not as dark as before. He thought that this meant it was daytime for a moment, but then he saw that there were a bunch of lit candles occupying certain places so that the room was as light as possible. He remembered that sunlight didn't have a way of reaching them, and felt a bit stupid. His eyes adjusted and he saw Splinter looking down at him. He moved slightly, unnerved at the fact that he could see up his father's nose.

Father… It was like Mikey's brain had reconnected itself to his body. He was suddenly wide awake. "Sensei? Raph? Did you find Leo? Is he okay?"

"He is fine," Splinter gestured towards the blue clad turtle, who was standing behind him. Leo waved at him. Mikey grinned and waved back. "I wished for everyone to be awake before Leonardo explained what had happened."

Mikey noticed that Angel was no longer asleep, and was huddled around one of the candles. Her jacket was hanging from her shoulders, while her arms were wrapped around her body. She acknowledged the orange masked turtle with a small smile, before shivering and facing the tiny flame again.

"Oh…" Leo didn't look as though he thought it of much importance, like this sort of thing happened to him on a regular basis. "I had the Foot chasing after me… I just managed to chase them off when I bumped into Master Splinter and Raphael."

"But ya were ages behind me," commented Raph. Don was wrapping his arm with his brother's mask, having no proper bandages on him. "Ya should have been right behind me. I managed to get here without dem catchin' up to me."

"It doesn't matter," Splinter glared at Raph, "I'm sure that the Foot would have chased after the last person to leave with a lot of determination, as it would be their last chance. We must not dwell on the past; we have the future to focus on."

"I think we should go find Karai as soon as possible," said Leo darkly, punching the palm of his hand. "We can't let her get away with destroying our home like that."

"Yeah," agreed Mikey, the true horror of what had just happened only just dawning onto him. All his prized possessions were gone… again. It really wasn't fair. He hoped that none of the Foot had gone into his room and taken any of his stuff. "What did we do to annoy her this time? Did we do something dishonourable? Or… or did we forget to straighten our masks?"

"Who cares?" glowered Raph, jerking his arm away from Don. "She's seriously tickin' me off. I think we should go give Little Miss Shredder a dose of her own medicine."

The other turtles nodded in agreement. However, they knew that it wasn't their choice. They looked at their master; all hoping Splinter would allow them to go. He gazed at them, knowing that what he was going to say wasn't going to go down with them. He breathed in, before exhaling slowly. "I am sure that you are all upset that we have lost our home once more. Donatello, you have left behind your inventions, Leonardo your books, Raphael your motorcycle and Michelangelo your… games."

Mikey frowned. Splinter didn't sound like he thought that his youngest son's loss was very important.

"But thankfully, we have still got our most important thing," continued Splinter.

Mikey's eyes lit up, "Wow, you saved my first Silver Sentry comic?"

Splinter frowned, "No, I was referring to the fact that we still have each other. My sons, we will not let Karai's deed go unpunished, however I think that we should rest. I have not completely recovered from my cold, and-"

"I think we should have a vote," interrupted Leo. Splinter raised his eyebrows at him, before looking at his other sons. This certainly hadn't happened before.

"Very well," sighed Splinter, knowing that he was going to regret this. "Who wishes to go see Karai in the very immediate future?"

Five hands shot up, including Angel's. The others looked at her. She shrugged, "I know I ain't going, but you guys need to sort her out as soon as possible. Find her before she finds you."

"It's unanimous," said Mikey, "We're going to show Karai what happens when you mess with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

While the turtles discussed battle plans, Splinter thought that this was going to be a bad idea.


	23. The Plan

**It's my birthday today. :D**

_Scribe of Turesa: _It would be cool if it wasn't Leo. o3o

**

* * *

**Angel followed the mutants reluctantly, her hands deep in her pockets. She knew that she wouldn't be allowed to go to the Foot Headquarters with them, not in a million years, but she really didn't want to go back to her apartment. There, she was going to be scalded by Ryan before being banished to some village in the middle of nowhere. The only person she would know there was her brother. Yes, she would be living with her father, but she barely knew him. He had disappeared from her life when she was three, after her mother had died in a car crash. Then, she had been sent with her brother to live with their grandmother. It was a subject she hadn't told anyone but Casey about, and she was glad that the turtles had never asked why she didn't live with her parents. She didn't like talking about it.

The sewers had been unusually quiet, as if the Foot wanted them to leave. While Michelangelo was glad that they were able to escape so easily, the others were more than slightly apprehensive. It wasn't like the Foot to make things this easy. The Foot never made things easy for anyone, let alone the turtles. There was something all too suspicious about it, but none of them could figure out what.

Angel climbed out of the sewers first, and for a mad moment she thought about making a break for it. She could hide somewhere until Ryan went without her, and then she could go live with the turtles…

She shook her head at her stupidity. Of course that wouldn't work. There was no way that Ryan would leave without her. He would call the Police and she would be discovered sooner or later. Also, she had the feeling that the turtles would turn her in if they found her. Then Ryan would be even angrier at her, and when she moved she would be living with a near stranger and a relative that was mad with her. Angel sighed, unclenching her fists. It looked like she would have to go along with this, no matter how much she didn't want to.

When everyone was out, Master Splinter beckoned them to follow him. She groaned, which made Mikey stick out his tongue at her. It was like Splinter thought she didn't know where she lived.

Angel glanced up at the apartment building they were now in front of. She frowned, wondering how they had gotten there so quickly. It seemed like they had only left the lair a couple of seconds ago.

"Here's your stop," declared Mikey, gesturing towards it. He was grinning at her, but the usual twinkling in his eyes had disappeared. "Make sure you don't leave any belongings behind."

"Bye guys…" said Angel, waving at them as she inched towards the door. Donatello waved at her, while Leonardo gave her a small nod. Splinter bowed deeply as Michelangelo gave Angel a big playful hug. While she was being crushed, she could see Raphael smiling at her. She smiled back and let go of the orange clad turtle. "I'll see you whenever."

"As long as ya don't land yerself in jail first," chuckled Raph, ruffling her hair. "Don't do anythin' stupid or me and Casey will be on ya back."

"We all will be," piped up Don, grinning at her to show that they weren't being serious… well, very serious.

Angel rolled her eyes, "It's nice to know you all have confidence in me. 'Kay guys, this is goodbye for real. At this rate I'll be here until you're all as old as Master Splinter." She winked, before disappearing into the building. There was silence, before a male voice began shouting. They could hear Angel shouting back, nearly as loud. It sounded as though Ryan was telling her off.

Don nudged Leo, "Looks like you've got competition."

The eldest brother frowned, "Very funny. Now that she's safe, shall we go to the Foot Headquarters? We did agree that we would."

"Yeah," concurred Don, nodding his head, "If Karai found our lair, what's to say that she can't locate us again? It's like Angel said earlier; we should find her before she finds us. And we all know where we can find Karai."

They stood facing each other, agreeing with him but not knowing what their next actions should be. Obviously it would be to go to where the Foot were situated, but there were so many other things to consider. How would they enter: via the underground or from the sky? Would they go in all together, or should they go in within small groups? Should they bother bringing flowers and chocolate?

"Well…" Mikey tilted his head in a circle, lifting his hands, "Let's go, yeah? It's way past our bedtime, and Raph's gonna be really cranky soon."

Raph scowled, raising his fist and shoving it in front of his brother's face. Mikey jumped back, exaggerating an expression of horror. "Ya this close, Mike. This close. Now's not the time to make stupid jokes."

Splinter sighed, before walking off. Mikey let his three brothers walk ahead of him, taking one last look at Angel's apartment building. The others stopped walking after a few paces, waiting for him patiently. After a minute, Raph went back and squeezed his shoulder. Mikey smiled sadly at his brother, before going off with him and the others.

Don got out his shell cell and fiddled with it until the screen showed a small map of the Foot Headquarters. He had programmed it into his cell a long time ago, figuring that their visits to the place would be quite regular. He furrowed his brow, comparing the entrances of the building with one another. He handed it to his eldest brother, figuring that he would be able to decide which entrance would be best.

Leo examined it carefully and slowly, pausing from his walk and touching the screen with his finger. Don pointed at the entrance located on the roof, "The problem with this one is that although it would lead us right into the heart of the building, we no longer have access to our helicopter so it would be a lot harder to reach the top. None of the surrounding buildings are anywhere near as high, so we would have to climb up. Now, if we were to go via the underground…" he slid his finger to the bottom of the screen, "It would be a lot easier to reach the building unseen, but we would have to travel upwards, and we don't want to spend too much time going up the building."

"Or," Mikey pushed Don out of the way and poked the screen, "We could go through the main entrance."

"Uh…" Don was puzzled, "Why?"

"They wouldn't expect it!" explained Mikey, "They're probably guarding the more obscure entrances the most, so it should be easy to go in the main way."

Everyone shook their head at him. Mikey sighed. They never liked his ideas.

"I think we should all go through the sewers," said Leo, giving the shell cell back to his brother. "We didn't see any ninja while we were there, so I doubt there'll be any there now. And I don't want to split up. We're stronger as a team, so we should enter together."

The others nodded wholeheartedly, though Splinter's nod was rather reluctant. He still had a bad feeling about it. He didn't know whether it was because they had been so close to losing their family before and now they were going on a mission that may not be so forgiving to them, or whether it was because he was still tired and not in a good condition to enter the Foot Headquarters. They had fought the Foot not that long ago. He doubted whether his sons were physically healthy enough to go, but they were so eager to get there that he didn't think he could stop them.

The mutants were grateful that it was dark, because it meant that the streets were a lot more empty and quiet than it would have been in broad daylight. The darkness also helped to hide their faces, so the citizens that they did come across weren't able to see their unusual appearances. The light from the moon, which hung like a crystal ball in the murky black sky, was nowhere near bright enough to light up the city by itself. New York was illuminated by its many artificial lights, ranging in over a thousand colours. Mikey paused to admire them, wondering whether the others would mind having similar lighting in their new lair.

"Come on Mikey, we've seen New York hundreds of times," said Don, rolling his eyes and pulling his brother along. "If you keep stopping like this we'll never reach their Headquarters."

They found the manhole they had come out of before and went down it. Leo's assumption seemed correct; there wasn't a Foot ninja in sight. The only sounds were their footsteps and their steady breathing, as well as the occasional drop of water hitting the floor. One of them landed on Raph's head. He thought it was a signal that the Foot were ambushing them and got out his sai before spinning in a full circle with them held out. Don, hiding the smirk that wanted to escape onto his face, patted his brother's shoulder before continuing along, relaxed but prepared for anything.

They didn't come across any ninjas by the time they reached one of the Foot Headquarter's secret entrances. It was quite chilling to think that the Foot could enter the mutant's neighbourhood so easily. They approached a black door that was at the end of one of the sewer tunnels cautiously. Don checked his shell cell and told them that he was certain that this led into the basement of the Foot Headquarters. However, this piece of information did not make them keener to open it. While Donnie set about playing around with the keypad beside the door, the others gave each other wary glances.

"Suppose we go in and an alarm goes off," piped up Mikey, "And it goes WHEE WOO WHEE WOO WHEE-"

Splinter slapped his hand onto his youngest son's mouth, shushing him. Mikey nodded and Splinter removed his hand, wiping the drool on it onto his robe with a faintly disgusted look on his face.

"Yeah, and the Foot comes running and captures us," finished Mikey.

"Then they'll take us straight to Karai," replied Leo.

Mikey didn't like the sound of this part of the plan for some reason. He pulled a horrified face behind his brother's back, before saying in an attempt to wiggle out of his plan, "I think I should go and try and get our helicopter… I mean, we'll need to be able to make a quick escape, right?"

"Aw… Mikey's scwared," chortled Raph.

"Actually…" Splinter raised his hand and fiddled with his beard thoughtfully, "After we discover what the cause of last night's attack was, I think a quick escape would be very useful. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo will go back to our newest lair and retrieve the helicopter. Then, I want you to go to the top of their building and wait for us. Leonardo and I will enter their Headquarters through this door."

Leo curled his mouth, "But… I thought we had agreed on my plan. I said that we should go in altogether through here."

Splinter smiled, "We will have a vote. Whoever wishes to follow my instructions, raise your hand."

Mikey's hand shot up before he had even finished his sentence. Shortly after, Don raised his hand as well. Splinter smiled, placing his hand in the air too. Raph's hand remained down. He would rather invade their enemy's building than help them escape any day of the week. Leo scowled at his younger brothers, who simultaneously tilted their heads to one side innocently.

"Now, whoever opposes this can raise their hand now."

Raph and Leo looked at each other, but neither lifted their hand into the air. Splinter looked at them both and bowed his head, "This means that you will follow my plan. Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello- please retrieve the helicopter and wait for us at the roof. I shouldn't think that we will be here for very long."

Voting didn't seem as much of a bad idea as it had before, decided Splinter.

Mikey skipped away, clapping his feet together every once in a while. Raph followed, complaining that the orange clad turtle was making too much noise. Splinter shook his head fondly as his sons chatted with one another, before looking at Leo. The leader frowned at him, clearly not pleased at how his method of deciding things had been used against him.

"Don't look so down, my son," commented Splinter, putting a hand onto his shoulder. "I know how much you want to see Karai and how much you wish for us to be together, but we need to be able to leave afterwards. It will be impossible for us to go back down the building."

Leo nodded silently, getting out his katana. He closed his eyes, before opening the door.

In front of them was what seemed to be a laboratory, only it was too dark to be positive. Leo stepped in first, rotating slightly to see if there was anyone else there. When he saw that it was safe, he beckoned his master to come in. Splinter did so, his eyes darting around the room.

He caught sight of a small square that stood out against one of the flat walls and flicked it. The lights went on, and they could see that it was indeed a lab. The walls were plastered with diagrams and words that Leo and Splinter couldn't make sense of, while the desks contained similar pieces of paper. They ignored them, going through the room quietly and heading towards the door. Splinter raised his hand to open it…

Only for it to be opened for him.

Karai stood in front of them, wearing her father's armor. Her eyes, turned red by her helmet, widened in rage as she counted how many of them there were. There were not supposed to be two of them. She had expected all of them to enter together, and it made her angry that they had not done as she had planned.

"Ms Oroku," said Splinter calmly, looking directly into Karai's eyes without showing any fear or surprise, "I believe that we have some issues that need to be discussed."

She looked over her shoulder, as if checking to make sure that no one else was there. She turned her head back slowly, glaring at them maddeningly, "Why did you come?"

Splinter glanced at Leo before raising his eyebrows, "I am sure that you are aware why we have come. You wanted us to go here, or else you wouldn't have attacked our home."

Karai narrowed her eyes. She said in a quiet and deadly tone of voice, "There are many things that I would like to say to you right now, however it is neither the time nor the place."

The door behind her opened more and a group of Foot ninjas flooded the room. The ends of Leo's mouth twitched as he eyed the surrounding ninja. Splinter, however, looked completely calm.

Karai glowered at him. This wasn't the reaction that she had wanted to witness, nor was it the one she thought she would see. She held up her gauntlet, pointing it at the rat master in an attempt to unnerve him. "You will be escorted to my throne room, where I will deal with you two personally. Chaplin," she turned her head to the redhead in the hallway behind her, "I will meet you there."

They heard his light footsteps as he ran away. Karai frowned, seeing that Splinter was still not intimidated by her. She leant towards him so that their faces were almost touching. "And we shall see how your other 'sons' are doing once I give permission for my Foot tech ninjas to blast them out of the sky."

As the two mutants were led out of the room, Leo whispered to his master. "How did she know that the others are coming in the helicopter?"

"… I do not know," replied Splinter quietly, "But I am sure that we will find out."


	24. The Spy

**Thanks for the reviews. :)

* * *

**The three turtles entered their lair cautiously, not going in until they were sure that no one else was in there. They still hadn't come across any Foot ninjas, which was very strange. The brothers couldn't help but think that there was something slightly unusual about the whole thing. They hadn't met any ninjas whatsoever since they had escaped from the lair the previous night. It was as though the Foot didn't want to look for them.

The lair wasn't as destroyed as their last two homes, but it was still quite a mess. Don's workstation had been thrown around, and he looked in horror at the small chunks of technology that had been carelessly tossed around. He gulped, approaching what appeared to be half of his laptop. He picked up the screen, looking around and hoping that he would be able to find the more important part of his laptop. After some searching around, he found little pieces of it scattered around the television.

Raphael wasn't too bothered about Donnie's loss, partly because he didn't see how this affected his immediate future. The only thing he was concerned about was whether the Foot had discovered their helicopter. He wanted to get back to the others as soon as possible. The quicker they got there, the quicker he would be able to fight them. He knew that he was supposed to help Leonardo and Master Splinter get away, but he planned on giving the Foot's leader a piece of his mind… or to be more precise, a piece of his fist.

He went around Michelangelo, who was kneeling by his collection of video games and checking if they were broken. The red clad turtle headed towards the door on the far side of the lair that led to where they kept the helicopter. He paused in front of it, checking to see whether the other two were going to follow them.

Don's head jerked up and he went to stand next to Raph. The youngest turtle was too interested in the condition of his games to notice that the other two were waiting for him.

Raph and Don exchanged wary glances. It seemed that all Mikey was paying attention to were his games. It was typical of him to have such a weird list of priorities.

Mikey's hands opened and closed the game cases slowly, and he spent an extra long time looking them over. It appeared that the Foot hadn't broken any of them. He smiled, continuing his examination. He knew that his brothers were waiting for them, and he was perfectly aware that they were there to get the helicopter. The reason he was looking at his unbroken games was because then he could kid himself that they were still all safe in the lair. Don, Raph, Leo, Master Splinter, himself… he could pretend that his eldest brother and Master weren't in the heart of their enemy's workplace and that none of them were in any danger. His games were fine, and that made him feel like everything was fine as well.

It was silly, but it made him feel calmer and less scared.

"Come on Mikey," snapped Raph impatiently, "Ya can count yer babies later; we have a job to do, ya know? Leo and Master Splinter need us."

Mikey got to his feet, staring at the games over his shoulder. Then, he tore his gaze away and looked into reality, "I'm coming. Geez."

Don opened the door slowly, peeking in. Mikey was behind him and Raph so he couldn't see the state of their transport, however judging by the way they both flinched he could tell that it was bad news.

Mikey managed to squeeze through, complaining lightly about how fat they were and how hard it was for him to get past. His voice faltered away when he saw what had caused them to freeze.

Their helicopter (which had been Bishop's at some point, but the turtles had borrowed it without asking and had decided not to give it back) was smashed. The tinted green glass had shattered, and large shards lay littered on the ground. The metal frame was bent and distorted, either hanging wonkily or lying on the ground. The inside was crushed and impossible to enter. Mikey looked at Don, seeing the hearts in his eyes break and crumble into a million pieces.

"My… my helicopter," he went forwards and stroked it, like it was a kitten. "They… they destroyed it."

"Hey, we can hold a funeral for it later," said Mikey jokingly, hating the horrified look on his brother's face. "We need to go to the others, remember? Doing that was so important you didn't even let me look at my games for three seconds."

"I know that Mikey," replied Don darkly, "After all, we did come here to get the HELICOPTER, which is broken. Unusable. Only good for scrap metal."

Raph shrugged his shoulders, "Then we'll just go in through the sewers."

"You sound like you're choosing vanilla ice-cream because there's no chocolate left," Mikey remarked. "We can't like, go in through there. Suppose we get caught and we're all captured?"

"Then we all fight out," answered Raph, gesturing with his hand and heading out of the room. "Come on, I wanna get my sai stuck in somethin'... or someone."

His hand reached for the door, which had closed shut when they had entered, when a ninja shuriken landed next to his hand. Knowing only one group of people that were so predictable and unoriginal, he turned around and wasn't surprised to see one of the Elite Foot ninjas.

Mikey groaned, "Did you forget to break something or what?"

"You should be at our Headquarters," sneered the Elite ninja, pointing their trident at them. "Why are you still here?"

"We did leave, you know," commented Don, pointing his bo staff at the ninja in response. "Or didn't you notice?"

"And why would we be at yer H.Q?" asked Raph suspiciously.

"Isn't that what you had decided to do? You were going to invade our building from the sewers."

The turtles felt a shiver go up their spines. They didn't know whether he was bluffing, or whether he did somehow know what they had planned. They were sure that they hadn't discussed their plans in front of the ninja… unless they had heard the brothers talking earlier? That would explain how the Elite ninja knew that they had wanted to use their helicopter, but it didn't tell them how they knew that they had planned to invade their headquarters… or how the Elite ninja had known to destroy the helicopter in the first place.

But seeing as they did know, that meant…

"What have you done to my family?" snarled Raph, taking a step forwards. "If Karai puts one finger on them, I swear I'm gonna kill ya."

The Elite ninja's bloody eyes shined maliciously, "I wasn't aware that you were the one making any sort of deal, turtle."

"Shut up…" growled Raph, shaking. "I swear if ya hurt them yer gonna pay…"

Mikey stepped away from his brother and hid behind Don, alarm bells ringing in his head. Raph was entering his rage mode, which was the only time when Mikey was truly afraid of his brother. Don watched Raph, trying to look brave so that Mikey would feel brave. Then, Don would feel braver and in turn Mikey would feel braver… it was a never-ending circle of braveness.

The Elite ninja chuckled, "You are transferring your fear into anger… how unprofessional of you. I had expected far more from you. I thought you were a worthy opponent, but it seems like you're just a child. A weak, scared child."

Raph pounced onto him before he could defend himself. Mikey and Don ran forwards, trying to get their brother off of the ninja. It took the two of them a while to pull him off, and even then it was after the Elite Foot ninja had been knocked unconscious. Raph breathed heavily, staring at the fallen warrior before looking as his red hands. His eyes flickered between the two.

He looked at Don with an expression of terror, "Donnie… what did I do?"

Don ignored him, bending down next to the Elite ninja. He picked up his hand and felt for a pulse while Raph began mumbling under his breath.

"What if I killed them? I know we're sworn enemies but shell… I wasn't meant to kill them… Sensei taught us not too… Shell… shell…"

Don raised his head, dropping the ninja's hand. "Relax; they aren't dead. You just knocked them unconscious. I expect that they'll be awake sooner or later. Come on," he picked up the Elite ninja, "We'll drop them off somewhere nearby."

Raph sighed, relieved, and aided his brother. Mikey followed them, feeling more than slightly useless. They left quickly and walked through the sewers, dumping the Elite ninja next to some sewer water. Afterwards, they headed towards the area where they had parted from the other two members of their family. Once again they were in front of the door.

"Age before beauty," piped up Mikey, looking directly at Raph as he pointed at the door.

"Real funny," muttered Raph, before breaking into a cruel smile. "We know how eager ya are to rescue Sensei… and yer girlfriend."

Mikey blinked. He didn't know whether his mind had modified what his brother had stated, or if he really had heard that. He glanced at Donnie, who was grinning at him. It looked like he had heard the same thing, only he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"Huh? What?"

"I just wanted to say that before we went and got the others," explained Raph, "If Leo found out that we knew, he'd probably commit honourable suicide or somethin'."

"You _knew _that Venus was Leo?" the youngest turtle exclaimed in horror, "But… but… how?"

"Mikey, you act like you're under the impression that we are both idiots," chuckled Don. "Angel told us shortly after you came up with the… rather disturbing idea that you could fake having a girlfriend."

Mikey shook his head in disbelief. All that time when they were with him and Leo, they had only been pretending to take a liking to 'Venus'. He had thought that he was outsmarting them… but it turned out that he had been the one being outsmarted.

"Why did she tell you? She said she wouldn't!" said Mikey, feeling betrayed.

The satisfaction on Don's face transfigured into pity. "She knew that it wasn't going to work, so she told us to play along with it. While you and Leo were with her, Raph and I planned out what we were going to do."

Mikey frowned. He was wondering whether it had been a good idea to help the pair of them make up.

"We can talk about this as much as you like later," Don opened the door and entered, "But right now we have a mission. Come on."

***

"Kneel."

Splinter remained perfectly still, gazing calmly at the Shredder. Karai stared back at him, compressing her annoyance into a tiny dot. He was supposed to be afraid. She held his life and his family's life in her hands. She chose whether they lived or not. She was in control; he should have been terrified… but no. He just watched her coolly.

Karai began to pace slightly, taking her eyes off his face. Leo tried to move his arms, but the Elite Foot ninja holding him prevented him from doing so. The turtle looked over at Splinter, wondering if he had any ideas on how to escape. He either didn't, or he was saving his plan until later.

This was what infuriated her the most. If he didn't show any emotions, she could not tell what he was thinking. If he was afraid, then it meant that he didn't have any plans. If he was acting cocky, then it meant that he did have a plan. If he was not showing any emotion at all, then she might as well have looked at a brick wall.

She approached him, resting the claws attached to her gauntlet on his chin, "Tell me, what makes you so brave in the face of death?"

"I am not facing death. I do not think you are capable of killing us," replied Splinter.

"What?" shouted Karai, outraged, "I do not know where you got that impression from, but it is incorrect. My father left me many duties after his forced departure, and one of them is to slay the creatures responsible for it. The creatures responsible are you and your family."

"That is not the reason."

Karai's eyes widened, "Of course it is the reason, rat! Why do you lie to my face? I know my reasoning more than you do. I know why I want to destroy you."

"You don't want to destroy us."

Karai's hands made for her hair, before realizing that her head was hidden under her helmet. She lowered her arms again, clenching her fists tightly. Her ninjas were shaking slightly from what Karai presumed was her shared rage. However, they were actually trying to stop themselves from laughing at her. Their leader, their master… was being mocked by a small elderly rat. Best of all, she was taking his statements badly.

"Lies!"

Splinter raised his eyebrows, "I'm not feeding you any lies whatsoever. What I am saying shouldn't be news to you. You are the one who is refusing to accept the truth."

They locked eyes: the good and the misled. After a minute, she broke eye contact and turned around stiffly. "Let go of him and Leonardo."

The Elite Foot ninjas holding onto them didn't move, exchanging mystified expressions.

Karai spun around, "Are you deaf, or are you disobeying me? I said let go of them. Now!"

They let go reluctantly, backing away. Karai glared at the looks on their faces, her blood boiling. Her ninjas thought that she had lost her mind. They thought that she was reacting incorrectly. These were all assumptions, but she was positive that they were correct.

"Leave this room," she commanded, pointing to the door. "All of you. I will not stand here while you act in such a way. I will punish you later, after I have crushed our prisoners."

"What about me?" piped up Chaplin timidly.

Karai contemplated this for a few seconds before adding in a more composed tone of voice, "You too, Doctor Chaplin. However, you will not be punished. Go to your lab and check on 'them'."

Chaplin nodded and departed from the room with the rest of the Foot. When they had gone, Leo turned to Karai, "When you said 'them', what did you mean?"

"Silence," snarled Karai, the fury from before returning in a heartbeat. "There, rat, now we are alone. Tell me what truth is in your words."

"As you wish," Splinter bowed his head, "You do not want to slay us, Karai. You know that. Otherwise, you would not have sent your ninjas out of the room. You do not want them to hear the truth."

Karai remained silent.

He pressed on, "You talk about a duty you were given by your father to destroy us. I will not deny that is true. However, after his exodus you haven't truly tried to harm us. When Leonardo went to visit the Ancient One, you attacked our home and sought out to annihilate us. You were blinded by your anger back then, but you came to realize that it was not our fault. You forgave us. Did you forgive us?"

"No, of course-" Karai looked down at her feet like a child does when they have been told off. "Yes. I did forgive you."

Splinter nodded, "But the Foot do not approve of a leader that forgives their sworn enemy, do they? It makes them look weak. I can only imagine what your clan does to a member that shows signs of weakness. You have been too lax recently, teaming up with us instead of fighting us. You see this opportunity as a way of redeeming yourself in your eyes. You are the one afraid of death."

Karai stepped back, "That is a lie… it cannot be true…" she trembled very faintly, "… You cannot know that it is true."

"What would I gain from lying to you?" asked Splinter. "You can refuse what I say; I will not try and change your mind."

"Be quiet!" Karai pulled out her katana, "I have had enough of your talk. I said that I will destroy you, and destroy you I shall."

Splinter sighed, gazing at her. "If you wish. However, you must promise to fight fairly."

Karai nodded impatiently, holding out her weapon in front of her. She threw it at him, getting out another katana. Splinter caught it easily, his hand shooting upwards with lightning fast reactions. Leo looked between them.

"It is between the two of us," Splinter turned to Leo, "That means that you cannot interfere."

"I won't interfere," promised Leo.

Splinter's eyes glittered and he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have no reason to believe you. There is very chance that you will aid Karai."

Then, without warning, he swung his katana sideways and sliced the turtle in two.

* * *

**:o Dun dun dun...**


	25. The Twist

**Early update is early. :) **

* * *

The first thing they did when they entered the laboratory was spread out and check if any of the Foot's scientists were there. Life wise, it seemed as empty as the sewer tunnels had been. Donatello was checking one of the workbenches, in case a scientist was hiding behind it, when his eyes fell upon a series of papers that were on it. Curiosity getting the better of him, he placed his bo next to them and picked up one of the papers and read it.

To another member of his family, it looked like a drawing of someone with a bunch of strange words annotated next to it. However, to him, it was something completely different. It was science. He perched onto the edge of the workbench and began to read it carefully, a frown appearing on his face as his eyes drifted downwards. As soon as he had read all of it, he picked up another paper from the bench and read that as well.

Raphael was tapping his foot impatiently. He thought that they were supposed to go straight up the building to join the other two, not hang around in the basement. Don was going through their stuff, but then he liked that sort of thing. Unless there was a member of the Foot to beat up, Raph didn't see what the point of them being there was. He doubted Michelangelo was having fun either. Raph's knowledge of technology came from messing around with his motorcycle. Mikey's, however, came from playing video games. He turned around to see if he could get the youngest turtle to help him persuade Donnie to go up when-

"Ahh!" yelled Raph, stumbling away from the giant fly that was walking slowly towards him.

Don dropped the paper he had been examining and picked up his bo, before looking at what had caused his brother to cry out. He narrowed his eyes, slipping his bo staff back into his belt and crossing his arms, wearing the 'Leo' expression on his face.

"Mikey…"

The giant fly descended, revealing the grinning turtle's face. Raph regained his posture, looking between his brother and the giant fly. They were both dead… or to be more precise, one was dead and the other would be very soon.

He charged forwards, slapping the back of Mikey's head. "What the shell do ya think yer doin', playin' around with giant… giant insects?"

"Where did you find that anyway?" asked Don. He wouldn't have been surprised to see one in Agent Bishop's headquarters, but at the Foot's? He didn't think that Karai was into that sort of thing.

"Over there in one of those weird tubes," Mikey dropped the fly so that he could point to a row of large pods. Don sighed disapprovingly at Mikey's name for them, before going over so that he could examine them closely. His brothers followed him, stopping and gazing at the pods in horror.

Excluding the one Mikey had opened, each pod contained a deformed creature; sometimes they were so disfigured that it was impossible to tell what they had originally been. Raph's face went a lighter shade of green as he gazed at what seemed to be a spider-dragonfly thing, unable to take his eyes off it even though he really wanted to. Mikey tapped one of the pods, pulling a stupid face. The creature inside it opened their eyes and stared at him directly. He screamed, hiding behind Don.

Chuckling, Don bent down and studied the tube that was attached to the bottom of the pod. He noticed that all the pods had a tube connected to the base of them. Donnie frowned, puzzled, before slowly following it to see where they all led to. Mikey and Raph ignored him, far more interested in the pods to care about the tubes attached to them. The youngest turtle was standing next to his brother, where he felt safe. He knew that the monsters couldn't touch him but still… Mikey felt better being near his strongest brother.

Donnie bumped into something hard. He groaned, rubbing his head. He looked up to see that he had bumped into one of the pods. He furrowed his brow, wondering why all of the others were joined to that one in particular. He stood up to check what was in it that was so important.

"Guys! Come check this out!"

Mikey and Raph tore their eyes away and rushed over, skidding to a stop when they caught sight of what was in the container.

"Hey…" Mikey's mouth quivered slightly, "Is that-"

TMNTNMT

Sparks flew out of 'Leonardo' as Splinter withdrew his katana. The 'turtle' tipped forwards and landed on the floor, face down. From where he was positioned, Splinter could see the various wires and computer chips that were contained inside of it. He kicked the top half of it gently so that their face was looking towards the ceiling. The eyes on 'Leonardo' dulled until they were two dark holes. Grinning, the rat lifted his head and gazed at his enemy, his eyes twinkling and full of life.

Karai looked down, her eyes resting on the body's torso. She was glad that she was wearing her helmet, because that meant he couldn't see her blushing face. Picking up whatever dignity she had left, she said dryly, "Well-done."

Splinter bowed his head in response, "Thank you."

Karai curled her lip, keeping her temper to a minimum, "I am surprised you noticed that it was not your son. My scientists told me that a lot of research went into making and programming the android so that it would pass as Leonardo."

"And it would," replied Splinter, "To someone who did not know him as well as me. However, there are many things that your scientists did not take into account."

"Oh?"

"Do you want me to give you some examples?"

Karai nodded slowly.

"You did not know where our old lair was, so you had your imposter wander the sewer tunnels, knowing that sooner or later we would go and find him. Your scientists did not think to damage your imposter a bit, for when we found him it was as though he had not recently been in a fight. Your imposter was eager for all of us to go here because it was part of a trap. You knew what we had been planning because your imposter transmitted the information to your scientists, who passed their new found knowledge onto you."

Karai couldn't help but be impressed at his observations. Her scientists were the best that she could afford, and she being a billionaire meant that she could afford a lot. To see their work be destroyed in front of her own eyes so quickly annoyed her greatly, but it also made her respect Splinter a lot more than she had before. However, there was something she didn't understand.

"Then why did you come here, if you knew it was a trap?"

The smile on his face vanished, "You are keeping my son hostage; do not think I have forgotten. I came here to get Leonardo back."

They locked eyes.

"No matter what."

Karai ran forwards and tried to slash him with her katana, but Splinter managed to duck and miss her attack completely. He kicked out his leg, causing her to fall backwards and land on the floor. She growled, getting to her feet quickly and moving her katana in short, sharp movements. Splinter blocked her attacks, backing away. After a few paces, he caught her attack on his blade and pushed forwards.

Now he had taken the offence. Karai struggled to keep up with his attacks. She was younger and fitter than him, but he had much more skill. Also, she was slower than him because of the armour she was wearing. She swung her katana downwards, knocking both of their weapons out of their hands. Karai smirked, holding up her fists.

They circled each other cautiously, backing away a bit. Suddenly Karai ran forwards, getting out a metal chain and throwing it towards Splinter. He caught it and pulled hard, causing her to stumble forwards and fall on her stomach. Karai tried to get up, but Splinter had placed his foot onto her back, preventing her from returning to her feet. In a last attempt, Karai reached towards the katana. Unfortunately for her, it was just out of reach.

"Tell me… where is Leonardo?"

"I will never tell you…" she told him stubbornly, "You could kill me and I would not tell you where he is."

Splinter sighed before saying sadly, "I do not plan on killing you."

Karai blinked, trying to make sense of what he had just said. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Chaplin ran in. The two warriors turned to him in surprise.

"Mistress! Intruders… there are intruders in the lab…" he gasped, placing his hands onto his thighs whilst breathing heavily. His head jerked up and he saw Karai on the ground. He widened his eyes in horror, which quickly turned into rage. "Get off her!"

Splinter automatically removed his foot, stepping away from Karai. She sat up, stretching her back. She saw Splinter tuck the katana away into his belt, which she found quite rude because the weapon belonged to her. Then again, she supposed that if he didn't keep it there was a chance she would take it in her hand and stab him…

But would she? He had had the chance to finish her off a few minutes ago, but he hadn't. He had spared her, saying that he didn't plan on killing her. Was that another way of saying that he didn't want to kill her? She was in his debt now. She couldn't kill him. It wouldn't be… honourable.

"What intruders?" asked Karai.

"I don't know, but the motion sensors in the lab picked up some movement."

She smiled cruelly, tossing her head back. "It looks like your plan has failed, rodent. I will leave you to face my ninja while I go and introduce myself to our guests."

She left the room, followed by Chaplin. Splinter narrowed his eyes as a group of Foot ninjas came in, nearly filling up the room. He sighed, taking out his new katana and getting into position.

It was going to be a long night.

TMNTNMT

"Guys! Come check this out!"

Mikey and Raph tore their eyes away and rushed over, skidding to a stop when they caught sight of what was in the container.

"Hey…" Mikey's mouth quivered slightly, "Is that… Leo?"

He blinked, his stomach churning at the sight of his brother. He was glad that they had found Leo, but he was slightly bewildered. They hadn't come here to rescue their brother. In fact, he was sure that Leo had gone in with Master Splinter. He tilted his head to one side. If Leo was in the pod, then he and Splinter must have been captured.

Raph thought the same thing and began to sprint in a straight line, searching the pods for their master. Meanwhile, the other two brothers stared at the eldest turtle.

He was floating in what appeared to be pea soup, unconscious. Mikey felt a wave of anger spread across him as he examined the tubes sticking out of his brother's body. He touched the pod gently, pressing his face against the glass. He couldn't believe that Karai had done this to him. He had thought that she and Leo were friends. The pair had even arranged to meet up with each other what seemed like years ago, but had only been a few days prior.

Speaking of that meeting, hadn't Karai promised to _not_ tell Leo that the orange masked turtle had been spying on them? They had promised to each other, yet Leo had gotten some 'air mail' telling him that Mikey had been there. The only other person who had been there, apart from the two turtles, had been her. So logically, she had not kept her side of the deal. Then again, she had promised during 'The City at War' incident that she would not kill them for causing her father's apparent death. _That_ hadn't lasted very long.

Don tapped on the glass window of the pod before circling it, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "Hm… it looks like the other pods are getting something from Leo's one… but I can't see what."

"So they're like, eating him?" asked Mikey.

"That's… an unusual way of putting it, but I think so."

"It looks like he's floating in some soup. Do you think Karai's making him into turtle soup and feeding it to those weird creatures?"

"That's… um…"

"… An unusual way of putting it?"

"No… That's just wrong."

Don went to the computer that was connected to the pod Leo was in. Mikey gathered that the monitor was displaying some sort of readings, but what readings they were he had no idea. The bar charts and numbers didn't make any sense to him. Raph returned, having not found their Sensei in any of the other pods.

"Okay…" Don looked back at Leo, "I think, emphasis on the think, that the computer is scanning his DNA signature, as well as his physical condition."

Mikey nodded slowly, "So… why is it connected to the others?"

"Is it takin' the ooze outta him and puttin' it in the other creatures?" asked Raph. "It would explain why they're all... mutated."

"That's what I thought, but it doesn't seem like it is being transferred," replied Don.

"Ya don't happen to have any idea what it is bein', do ya?"

"Well…" Mikey and Raph exchanged pleased expressions, "I think that the solution Leo is being contained in is copying the ooze's formula, which is sent to the computer, which then recreates the ooze in the other pods and that-"

"Science magic, got it," Mikey interrupted. "How are we going to get him out?"

As if answering, Raph got out his sai and made to stab the pod. Donnie grabbed his wrist before he could. "I don't think we should do that. Who knows what side effects could occur if you were to suddenly-"

The door leading out of the lab and into the rest of the headquarters burst open. Karai stormed in, fully decked out in her father's costume. The three turtles stared at each other.

"Give me that," muttered Don, snatching his brother's sai and slamming it into the glass window of the pod. It cracked before falling inwards, only to come out again as the solution poured onto the ground. Raph reached into the pod and pulled Leo out, not caring about the glass or the liquid that went over him in the process. He slung his brother over his shoulder and took back his sai.

"Let's go," he commanded, running towards the door.

"What about Sensei?" asked Mikey, running after him. "We can't just leave him!"

"Master Splinter can look after himself," shrugged Raph, "And if he doesn't get out, we can always go back for him. Now follow my lead."

"You're leader now?" remarked Don, though he didn't sound like he was challenging him.

"Yeah, and any complaints can be sent to my shell," smirked Raph as they ran out of the lab and back into the sewers. "Donnie, we need to escape. Any ideas?"

Don furrowed his brow. He was a good thinker, sure, but he didn't like thinking when a crazed lunatic was chasing after him. He liked planning things out in advance; Leo was the one who was good at making up plans to suit the current situation.

"I have an idea," gasped Mikey, "What are turtles good at?"

"Mikey, if I want a freakin' riddle I'll go ask Sensei for one," growled Raph.

Mikey pointed to the sewer water in front of them. Raph grinned, thinking that his brother had actually come up with a good idea. He jumped into the sewer water first, gasping for breath before covering his older brother's mouth so that he didn't drink any of the water. Don dived in after him, leaving Mikey with Karai.

The youngest turtle stopped at the water's edge and heard the footsteps behind him vanish. Turning around, he saw that Karai had stopped a small distance away, out of his reach. Or, as he preferred to think, far enough so that _he_ was out of _her_ reach. She stared at him, daring the turtle to flee with her eyes. Stubbornly, Mikey remained where he was, even if his presence was causing an uncomfortable silence.

"What's your problem?" he burst out a second later, waving his arms. "Okay, I was annoyed you told Leo that I was spying on you two, but I wasn't really that bothered about it. Then you have to go and trash our place. I'm beginning to see why Raph thinks you're a complete-"

"Excuse me," Karai butted in. Mikey let her talk, seeing as she had been polite about it. "Your first statement is incorrect. I did not tell Leonardo that you had been spying on us. We are enemies, but I do not ever go back on my word."

"You said that you would leave us alone ages ago but you never did," argued Mikey.

"I believe I said that I would not slay you because of what you did to my father, and I did not."

"You tried to. Remember when you came to our lair and hunted us down?"

"But I did not kill you. I tried to, but I did not."

Mikey narrowed his eyes, "Whatever, you still told Leo. Who else could have told him? We were the only ones there! You sent that letter to him on that arrow like a day or so after."

"I did no such thing."

"Really?" Mikey frowned. Not that he _trusted _her or anything, but maybe… maybe she was telling the truth? It sounded really farfetched; it sounded completely absurd… but what if Karai wasn't lying? "Well… someone did."

"What would I gain from breaking such a promise? If word was to get out that I had been… conversing with one of you, I would be relieved of my leadership of the Foot clan."

"Good point," commented Mikey. He realized that he was having a civil conversation with Karai and felt strange. This must have been the side of her that Leo saw. "Why aren't you trying to capture me?"

"There is no point. You will get into the water before I can reach you… besides, I do not really want to capture you."

Mikey laughed. "Good one. You put Leo in that weird pod thing and Sensei's probably rotting in your dungeon."

"We do not have a dungeon."

"Really? You should invest in one or something. All evil lairs need a dungeon."

"I will bear that in mind. Also, I would prefer it if you do not laugh at what I say. I am serious when I say that I do not wish to harm your family. I only do it because if I do not, I will be dismissed of my leadership, and my life, permanently."

"That's rough. You could like… come and stay with us, if you want. I'm sure the others won't mind."

Well, they probably would, but if he said that it would put her off a bit. "We'll make sure the Foot don't try and hurt you."

Karai nearly smiled at his offer, "That would be... nice... however I am not in a job that you can easily quit. Your father… I suspect that he will escape. I sent my Elite ninja and Doctor Chaplin to guard something on the fifth floor, and your master is more than capable of getting past my lower class ninja. He is a very good fighter."

"Cool," nodded Mikey. "Well, it's getting late and my bros will be wondering where I am. It was, uh, nice chatting to you. Bye."

He turned around and was about to dive in after his brothers when he felt something touch his arm. Confused, Mikey turned around and saw that Karai was standing beside him, holding something out to him. He straightened up and took it, wondering what it was. It looked like a piece of paper that had a random set of numbers on it. He gazed at her, trying to figure out what it was.

"Recently a young girl sent me this number. I think that your brother Donatello would like to have it."

"Sure…" He had no idea why his brother would want that particular number, but it would be impolite to say no. "Okay bye."

He put the paper in his mouth and cannonballed into water before the situation could get any weirder. Karai stayed where she was for a moment before going back towards the Foot headquarters.

When she had left the scene, the Elite ninja that had been in the turtle's lair earlier rounded the corner. They narrowed their eyes at her retreating back.

* * *

**I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. ._. I rewrote it completely three times because I was unsatisfied with it, but I hope it's okay now. *crosses fingers***


	26. The Number

Michelangelo was glad that he was a mutant turtle for many reasons. Firstly, it meant that he could hold his breath under water for a long time. This was useful because after swimming for a minute he realized that the others hadn't told them where they were escaping to. He paused, thinking, before taking his chances and swimming west.

Also, he was glad that he was a mutant turtle because that meant he was related to Donatello. He climbed out of the water and sat on the edge, before getting out his shell cell. His genius brother had made the phones waterproof, so when he got it out of his belt and opened it up, he found that it was perfectly intact. This meant that he could call his mutant turtle brother and ask him where he was.

"Hayf Doorev." Mikey shuddered, taking the piece of paper out of his mouth. Thankfully, the writing on it was still legible.

"Mikey?" Don sounded concerned. "What's the matter with your voice?"

"Sorry… I had something in my mouth. Anyway Donnie, where the shell are you? Raph didn't think his plan through very well; he didn't say where we were supposed to meet up."

"I'm with Raph now. We're heading over to our old lair. Did you manage to lose Karai?"

"Uh, yeah. You really think I'd be calling you if I had?"

"So you managed to lose her? You got away okay?"

Mikey didn't know whether you could describe what had happened as losing her. She hadn't made much of an effort of going into the water after him, and she had admitted that she wasn't really going to capture them. It was more like they had decided to part and go their separate ways. However, he didn't think that it was a good time to explain this.

"No one can catch the Mikester. Is Leo okay?"

"He's beginning to wake up now. He's a bit out of it, but that's to be expected. Try and get here as quickly as possible. Karai might still be looking for us. We've already lost Sensei; we don't want to lose you too. Speaking of which, why aren't you with us? You should have been right behind us, Mike. What happened?"

Mikey coughed. "Um… Karai tried to… trick me. She said she would help me get Sensei back, but I didn't fall for it." He really didn't like lying to his brother, but he had the feeling Karai wouldn't want him to explain the real reason why he hadn't gone in straight after his brothers. He didn't think they would believe him anyway. "I'm on my way right now. See ya soon!"

Mikey hung up and looked around, trying to see where he was. He walked down a few tunnels and recognized where he was. Their old lair wasn't too far away from where he was now. Grinning, he quickened his pace. He didn't know whether he should have been happy. Although he was pleased that he had found out why Karai had attacked them, and that Leonardo was alive, they had lost their home and Sensei was probably still in the Foot's Headquarters. He didn't know whether he should have been pleased.

He shook his head, ridding his mind of these confusing thoughts. Everyone's life was full of good bits and bad bits. It was his life he was living, and he had the choice to choose which parts of it he let affect him, and he knew which parts he wanted to focus on.

Another reason he was glad to be a mutant turtle was that it meant the humans feared them. Because of this, it meant that he and his family were forced to live beneath them, away from their judging eyes. Living in the sewers meant that it was easier to reach the lair. He didn't have to hide in the shadows in case a human saw him. It also meant that when he reached the entrance of the lair, he could just walk in without the chance of being spotted by a passerby. He didn't have to wait until the coast was clear; he could just touch the brick and stroll in.

It was very dark and Mikey could only just see where he was going. He spotted Don and Raph sitting with Leo, was lying on his back. The orange clad turtle rushed over, dropping to his knees and looking at Don worriedly. "Leo's okay?"

"Yeah," replied Raph. Mikey turned his head to face him. "He was mumbling' somethin' a minute ago."

Mikey cast his eyes down to the silent leader. How he would have like to arrive a minute earlier. Leo's eyes were closed and it looked like be was sleeping peacefully. Mikey smiled, wishing that he had a camera with him. Then, after every lecture Leo have him, he could go to his room and look at a photo of him sleeping calmly. It would probably make him less likely to annoy his brother later, which would earn him another lecture.

"Come on Mikey, he ain't that interestin'," smirked Raph, jabbing his arm with his finger. "Yer always complainin' how borin' he is and now ya-" Don elbowed him, cutting Raph off. Mikey didn't notice, too busy staring at Leo. It was reassuring to see him exist in front of him as it reminded that he was still there.

Leo was a reason that made Mikey glad to be a mutant turtle. He didn't know what it was about his brother, but his very presence made him feel relaxed… like nothing could go wrong. It made him feel safe. He doubted that his brother would save them from a fire breathing dragon or a mad demon Shredder in his unconscious state, but him just being there made him feel like nothing could harm them.

Mikey leant forwards, wanting to check if he was breathing. He knew that Leo's chest falling and rising meant he was, but he wanted to make sure.

"Have… haven't you heard of… breath mints?"

Mikey jumped backwards, hitting his head against Raph's chin. The red clad turtle groaned, rubbing his chin with one hand and hitting the backside of his youngest brother's head with the other. Mikey ignored the thumping pain in his head, too busy grinning at his groggy oldest brother.

"You're awake!" Mikey laughed.

"Yeah… I guess… so." He sat up slowly, only to be pushed back down by Don.

"Leo, you need to rest," declared Don, gently but firm. "Just try and fall asleep again."

Mikey widened his eyes at him. "But he only just woke up!"

"Mikey, when you become our family's medic, you can give medical advice. Until then, we're going to follow my instructions."

Mikey crossed his arms, but he wasn't annoyed. Donnie had been the family doctor since he had read a book on first aid, so he was sure that his genius brother knew what he was talking about.

The turtles were silent for a while, not wanting to talk so that their brother could fall asleep quickly. Mikey exhaled slowly, gazing up at the ceiling. He was very bored, having nothing to do and nothing to say. Don busied himself with checking over Leo in case he was injured in a place that wasn't obvious, while Raph got to his feet and began pacing. They didn't need to ask him why he was walking like that; they knew who he was waiting for, and they were all waiting for the same person.

Mikey scratched his chin, thinking about the past few days' events. They had been very… different, to say the least. Don and Raph had made up after falling out, he had told the biggest lie of his life, Leo had worn a dress, Angel had moved away, their home had been invaded and he had talked to Karai like they were having tea together. He had experienced many stranger things, but that didn't make the previous week any more normal.

While he scratched his chin he felt something sharp brush against his skin. Puzzled, he looked at his hand and remembered the piece of paper he had received from Karai. He looked sideways at Don, who was feeling Leo's arm. Mikey wasn't sure whether this was a good time to give it to him, especially without a good reason. He played the scene out in his head.

_'Hey Donnie, I was chatting to Karai earlier and she gave me this number, saying that you would like to have it. I know that she attacked our home and kidnapped Leo, but would you be so kind as to accept it?'_

Mikey shuddered. Somehow, he didn't think that his brother would trust it. He wasn't sure whether he trusted it. Why would Karai think Don would want a number a young girl had sent her? What kind of young girl would give her their number anyway? How would a young girl give her a number? He wasn't aware of the woman being the type of person to be friends with children. It was like Agent Bishop becoming in charge of an organization that promoted peace between Earth and other planets.

"Hey Mikey, why are you holding that scrap of paper?" asked Don. Mikey's body jerked slightly. He hadn't noticed his brother stop tending Leo so he could look at him.

"Oh…" Mikey held it at an arm's length, tilting his head to one side. "This thing? I found it on the way here. It's nothing, really."

Don raised his brow but didn't question him. Sometimes it was best if you didn't comment on his behaviour. He sighed, "Leo's got a few cuts from where they inserted the tubes, but other than that he should be fine."

"I can't wait to find her and kick her butt," snarled Raph, suddenly stopping. Mikey had forgotten that he was there. "We were fine before she came and ruined things. She mucked her life bein' with the Shredder, and she thinks that she can ruin ours. Why I oughta-"

"It's not her fault!" burst out Mikey. Raph and Don stared at him, thinking he had lost his mind. He jumped to his feet. "She had to do it or else the Foot would kill her! She didn't have any choice."

He felt like Leo, arguing with his brothers about Karai.

"And how would ya know? Did she tell ya?"

Mikey paused before looking down. "Yeah. Yeah I have."

Raph looked like he wanted to throttle him. He stepped towards him, but Don blocked his path. Mikey didn't know how Don could defend him when Raph was far stronger than him, but he appreciated the gesture all the same.

"Raph, now's not the time to fight. Sensei's gone and Leo needs to rest. What's arguing and fighting going to do to help us?" asked Don, not raising his voice. He didn't need a loud voice to get his point across.

"Okay, let's just say that Mikey's right," said Raph, determined to not give up so easily, "and that the Foot made her do it. What yer sayin' that she values her life more than she does her honour. Is that what ya sayin', Mikey?"

"Yes. No," Mikey mumbled. "I don't know."

"I woulddie before betrayin'someone in our family," growled Raph. "I would never-"

"That's what you think," said Mikey. "But you don't know until it happens."

They glared at each other. Don stepped out of the way cautiously, holding his bo staff in front of him. If they planned on starting a fight, he was ready to step in. The two brothers approached each other. Raph reached his hands towards him, his temple banging against his skin. Mikey trembled slightly, but he didn't look away. He felt Raph's hands go around his neck- before sliding over it and embracing his in a stiff hug.

"Idiot," mumbled Raph. "Yer bein' a complete idiot… and what do ya think that makes me, eh?"

Don smiled, seeing that they weren't about to kill each other. He approached them, putting his hands onto their shoulders.

"Group hug!" Mikey shouted, grabbing hold of his two brothers and hugging them tightly. He could hear them protesting as the trio fell onto the ground in a pile. Mikey raised his head and grinned, the corners of his mouth nearly escaping off his face. His two brothers sat up. They wanted to be annoyed with him, but they just couldn't bring themselves to feel any sort of anger towards him.

"Look, I'm gonna go see if Sensei's comin'," announced Raph, getting off the ground and heading towards the exit of the lair. "And if I see Karai…"

Mikey and Don exchanged nervous expressions.

"… I'm takin' her home with me." He winked at them, leaving.

They relaxed.

Raphael made him glad to be a mutant turtle. He was strong, brutal… but he could be very understanding. Most of the time Mikey seemed to get on the turtle's nerves, but Mikey loved the times when his brother accepted him as not an idiot. Those times were the times that made the turtle glad he was who he was.

TMNTNMT

Mikey was the only one awake.

Shortly after Raph had departed from the lair, Don had decided to try and get some sleep, explaining that he hadn't slept in ages. Mikey didn't argue with this, having seen the amount of coffee his brother had consumed over the last week. And, seeing as he didn't have his laptop, he couldn't do what he usually did and browse it. Mikey secretly thought that this was a good thing.

However, it still didn't make him pleased that the Foot had entered their lair.

He looked at the piece of paper, frowning. He had his shell cell with him. He could just input the number into it and see who answered. He knew that Karai had meant for Don to call it, but he was asleep and Mikey didn't want to bother him. Besides, little brothers existed to be nosy. It would be wrong not to call the number and see who answered.

He edged towards the other side of the room, not wanting to disturb the others. Then, he called the number and waited for whoever was on the other side to answer. He heard a click, and then a familiar, "Hello?"

Mikey blinked. "Betty?"

He could barely believe it. Was this _the _Betty Arnold?

"Mikey?"

Then, at the same time, they said, "Is it really you?"

"Well… you did call me," she replied, indignant. "How did you get my number? I got a new one after I left."

"A ninja fairy gave it to me," shrugged Mikey. Don had told him ages ago that she hated Karai, and he knew that she would be annoyed if she knew she had given it to him. "Anyway, Bettster, it's been ages. How are you?"

"I'm sleepy, but otherwise fine," she told him. "You do know it's really early in the morning?"

"I don't have a watch," replied Mikey, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. "Anyway…" He had a lot of questions that he wanted her, but he didn't know how to phrase any of them. It was times like this that he wished he had Leo's way of thinking, Donnie's vocabulary of words or Raph's bluntness. "April told us you had left the hospital a while ago. It's… uh… cool to know you're not there anymore."

"Look, I know what you want to ask," murmured Betty. "I'm sorry for leaving like that and not leaving behind any contact. It was wrong of me to go without a proper goodbye. I… I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"I was scared of becoming too close to you guys," she explained. "When your brother stabbed me by accident… I was scared that I would get in the way again. I just wanted a new start… I wanted to forget about it. I've only recently realized how stupid I was, running away like that."

"Okay…" Mikey said, "Do you, uh, want to talk to Don? He was really upset when you left like that." He was about to add about how it had caused a rift between Raph and Don, but he decided that wouldn't help the conversation so he didn't say it.

"Only if he wants to talk to me," said Betty. "You have my number, right? Give it to him and ask if he wants to call me."

"Sure bye." Mikey hung up and crept over to Don. He stood over his sleeping body. Betty was expecting him to call back, so Mikey kicked Don's arm.

"Ow!" Don opened his eyes and sleepily peered up at his brother. "Since when did you become my alarm clock?"

"This is important." Mikey gave him the piece of paper. "When I said I found this, I was sort of…"

"Lying?"

"No… I was… twisting the truth so that it was at my advantage. Anyway, I put the number into my shell cell and guess who answered?"

"I don't know."

"Come on… guess."

"Do I have to?"

"Yeah."

"… The President?"

"You're not even trying, Donnie."

"Just tell me who it was."

"The Bettster!"

Mikey had expected him to be at least slightly happy about this piece of information. Don's face didn't change, so Mikey handed him the piece of paper.

"See, you can phone her now! You won't have to spend all day looking for her contact information and stuff."

Don stared at the paper- before ripping it up into tiny pieces. Mikey's mouth flung open in surprise. He didn't understand. He looked at his brother, confused.

Don saw him looking and smiled slightly. "I haven't lost my mind, before you say anything. I spent so much time looking for her, it's only since after our home was attacked that I realized something. I've been looking for a friend for so long, I'd forgotten about my most important ones: my family."

Mikey scratched his beak. "Have you been watching Master Splinter's soaps or something?"

"Ha ha, very funny. I'll think twice before stating my reasoning next time."

Mikey chuckled. "I'm just messing with you bro. I know what you mean."

Don yawned and settled back to sleep. When Mikey could hear his gentle snoring, he took out his shell cell and called Betty.

"He says he'd love to meet you. Meet me at Austen Avenue at seven o'clock this evening."

He hung up before falling asleep next to his brother.

TMNTNMT

He could hear footsteps. The turtle opened his eyes warily and saw two dark figures. He raised his head slightly and looked next to him. Don and Leo were fast asleep, which meant that they could only be two people.

"Raph? Sensei?" muttered Mikey. The two figures turned to face him, before approaching him.

"You do not worry, my son," Splinter told him warmly. "We are all here. Go back to sleep; we have had quite an adventure and we need our rest."

Mikey nodded and smiled, closing his eyes.

He was glad he was a mutant turtle, because he didn't think he would feel so happy if he wasn't.


	27. The End

**So close. :O

* * *

**If Michelangelo had been in a house, the first rays of sunlight would have fallen onto his face, causing him to wake up. He would have opened his eyes to the light that blinded him at first, but became inviting after some adjustment. Birds would have been singing wordless melodies and a nearby car's alarm would have been going off in the distance, breaking the sleepy atmosphere. He would have dragged himself downstairs, walking half the way before falling down it in his dreary state. He would have gone into the kitchen and made himself something to eat.

But of course, he didn't live in a house. He didn't know where he lived. They had lived beneath Central Park, but they had been kicked out. They were in their first home, but they couldn't really live there. There wasn't any light… food… heating… electricity… food… They were back where they had started; it was like they had gone in a large wobbly circle where the ends didn't quite meet. Their life passed through where it had began, but instead of repeating it would take a rather different direction. He tried to picture the shape but it made his head hurt so he stopped.

As usual, he was the last to wake up. There was a solitary candle lighting up the room so that he could see. Leonardo was talking to Master Splinter, sitting against the debris wall. Donatello was bandaging his sensei's arm. Mikey didn't know where he had gotten the material from, not remembering his brother go out at all. He hoped that he hadn't found it floating in the sewer water nearby. Shuddering, he turned to Raphael. He was sitting next to Leo, a series of bandages around his limbs. Mikey frowned, wondering why he was wearing them. He didn't remember him getting injured.

He crawled over to the others. Don smiled at him, before concentrating on Splinter's wounds.

Suspicious, Mikey poked Splinter's arm. The master gave him a questioning look. He grinned, "Just checking that you aren't a robot."

"I assure you that I am not," replied Splinter, smiling in return, "Robots do not bleed for one thing."

It was strange, seeing blood on his father's arm. Splinter was a figure of power and invincibility to his sons. Despite his age (Mikey didn't know what it was, but he suspected that it was pretty high), Splinter survived whatever was thrown at him, whether it be the Shredder's wrath or four teenagers. It felt weird seeing that something had damaged his father. That or he wasn't fond of the sight of blood. He turned away slightly, facing Leo.

"I'm not a robot either," Leo assured him, thinking that was the reason why Mikey had turned to him, "So Sensei, like we were talking about earlier... The Foot captured me and sent a robot version of me to you guys? Wow. That's-"

"It was very cleverly done," commented Don, not noticing that he had interrupted his brother. "A _robot. _I know they've done that before, but it was a Master Splinter android and we only realized what it was when the real Splinter came along."

"Well, there's that, but I'm more surprised at the fact that you thought it was me," Leo crossed his arms, pretending to be hurt.

Splinter bowed his head, "It was a very clever trick, but I knew that it wasn't you very quickly."

Raph blinked, "So ya let us hang around him? Why? Why didn't ya destroy him straight away?"

"Because, Raphael, doing that may have had serious consequences. I didn't know what the android was capable of, so I led it away from you three."

"So that's why you didn't want us to come with you!" exclaimed Don, a smile appearing on his face. "You were planning on using their plan against them."

Leo nodded, taking in the tactic and storing it for later use.

Mikey picked up on something that was not as tactical as Don's observation, but still equally as important, "You went into the Foot Headquarters by yourself for us."

They sat in a stunned silence. They hadn't realized the risk their sensei had taken. The risk of falling at their enemies hands; the risk of dying without any family nearby to see and know what had truly conspired. If one thing had gone wrong he could have been killed. What would have happened to them then? Would they have sat in their lair, waiting for the door to open to nobody? Mikey didn't like thinking about what could have happened to them. He had in front of him what had happened and that was more than enough for him.

"How did you manage to get out?" asked Don curiously, "You were right in the heart of their hideout. There must have been hundreds of Karai's ninjas."

"I did not see the Elite Ninja on my way out," explained Splinter, "And they would have been the main adversaries preventing me from leaving. It was as though she had sent them elsewhere. I managed to get past most of them; however they were still on my tail. I suspect that they didn't want to be punished for letting me escape. I reached the third floor when I came across Raphael-"

"I don't remember you telling us _that _part of your walk," piped up Don, looking at Raph out of the corner of his eye. "You said you were going to see whether Sensei was coming."

"I did," snapped Raph, "The only way I could see whether he was comin' was to go find him. And he happened to be still in there so…"

"And you injured yourself?" remarked Leo, narrowing his eyes.

"Hey, most of these wounds are from the glass that got onto me when I got you out of that pod."

"Most?"

"Hey, I had to do _some _fightin'. I wasn't gonna let them fight me lying down."

Splinter cleared his throat. His sons fell silent, waiting for him to say something else. He did. "Now that we are all united as a family, we must decide what our next actions will be. We need to find somewhere to live. The Foot know where our last two homes are, so we cannot reside there."

The only place Mikey could think of was where they were now, but he didn't think that they could live there. There was no light… food… he remembered that he had already thought about what the place lacked. They _could _always find somewhere completely different, but he was worried that they would keep getting their home destroyed and the underground would become a large pile of rubble within a few years.

"There's always here," said Leo, shattering the silence. Mikey was glad he had suggested it, because it meant that he hadn't been the only one thinking it. It made the idea sound less stupid, which made him feel smarter. Unless they were both being stupid. Then he felt very stupid.

"Hey Leo, have ya noticed where we are or have ya got a concussion?" asked Raph.

"Probably," smiled Leo, "But seriously, I think we could live here again. We could fix this place up. I mean, we wouldn't have to go find a new place. We could get some of the stuff from the other lair and bring it here. The Foot don't know we're here, so it's quite safe. I bet Don could set everything up like before."

"I could, but it would take a while," Don tilted his head to one side thoughtfully, "And a lot of rewiring and gathering of materials. Hopefully I won't have to find _too_ many new pieces of technology. There will be a lot of suitable components back at our old home, but it's very likely that most of it was damaged. And like I said, it would take a very long time."

"I've checked your social calendar and you have a lot of free time," retorted Leo coolly, "So does everyone agree? Mikey can come help you retrieve some of our stuff while Raph and I get started on removing the wall behind me."

Raph got to his feet, "Oh no, you're stayin' where ya are. Ya can try and sleep while _I _get started on the wall. You and Master Splinter need yer rest."

"But-"

Raph shook his head.

Leo frowned before saying jokingly, "Can't we have a vote?"

He didn't understand why his brothers shouted 'Robot!' before jumping onto him.

***

"Do we need this?"

Don looked up. He was kneeling on the junk covered ground of their previous home, searching through it in case there was anything important they could use. He had the feeling that the Foot had been there after Master Splinter had left their Headquarters, because more things appeared broken. They must have gone there to take out their anger of losing. Now the place seemed as destroyed as their other two homes.

Doors had been ripped open and rooms had been vandalized. Things had been cut in half and trodden into the floor. It was as though he had walked into a junkyard. He barely recognized where they were.

Mikey was holding a handful of games. Many of them had been thrown about and destroyed, but some of them had managed to survive.

Don rolled his eyes, "There's a difference between want and need. We came here to get things that are vital for our survival."

"I know."

"You don't need video games to live," said Don for what seemed to be the seventeenth time that afternoon. "Besides, you can't use them unless we have a television to play them on."

"So what _are _we looking for?" asked Mikey, kicking some ripped up paper so that it flew upwards, before gently drifting back down. Distracted, he began trying to keep as many of the papers up in the air as possible.

Don shook his head, though he was glad that he wouldn't have to answer his brother's question. He doubted that Mikey would understand the names of the things he was looking for. Also, he wasn't completely sure what he was meant to be looking for himself. The only reason he could think of as to why Leo suggested Mikey go with him was so that he could help carry some of the stuff home. Even then, all he had done was slow him down. Mikey had insisted that Don go without him and that he would catch up with him after telling Splinter something.

Don had been at least an hour at the old lair by himself before Mikey had finally entered. Then, he had began asking about whether they could bring certain things back with them. No matter how many times Don told him that they did not need comics, video games or a lava lamp, Mikey would mention it again five minutes later. At the rate they were working at, they would be there for the next ten years.

Mikey had disappeared from his line of sight once more, most likely in one of the other rooms. Don used this opportunity to cross the room, where his favourite mug lay, still intact. He put it into his duffel bag before going over to their fuse box.

"I got some food," declared Mikey, running out of the kitchen with his arms full.

"Nice," grinned Don, before frowning, "Wait… what food?"

He expected him to say ice cream, pizza, popcorn and soda.

"Rice, beans, pasta…" Mikey bobbed his head forwards, looking very pleased with himself. He held up a box of matches, "And we can make a fire with this while you set up the oven!"

"That sounds like fun," replied Don. He took the food and put it into his bag, "I have candles too, so we should be able to have light and heat. That'll make setting everything up shell of a lot easier because I'll be able to see what I'm doing." He headed towards the exit, "We'll go back and get Raph to help transfer some of the heavy pieces of furniture. The wall in our lair can wait."

"Oh!" Mikey went back into the kitchen, before coming out with more food. "In that case we should bring a lot of food with us, seeing as this will take a while."

Don looked at the ice cream, pizza, popcorn and soda in his arms.

"Come on," Mikey skipped out of the lair. Don looked over his shoulder before following him out. He would be back there later. Again. And again. And again…

It sounded like the steady drops of water that fell from the ceiling. They went on and on, repeating until it pounded in his head. Don quickened his pace so that he was walking next to his brother.

Mikey suddenly stopped and began feeling his body, even though he wasn't wearing any clothes, let alone any pockets. He widened his eyes and looked at Don in horror, "We… we… forgot…"

Don wondered what they had forgotten that was so important.

"We forgot the can opener."

Don breathed out in relief, "Oh… I thought it was something serious." He chuckled at himself for getting so worried about it. "I can go get it when I go back with Raph."

"Uh…" Mikey held up his hands and shook his head furiously, "I have a better idea. I'll go get Raph and you go back to our old lair. He'll be with you in a moment. Then you can both return with something… uh… important."

Mikey took the duffel bag and ran off before Don could say anything.

Don furrowed his brow. Mikey was weird, there was no doubt about that. Any sane person could see that. However, there was always some form of logic behind his actions. Also, Mikey was terrible with secrets. You could always tell whether he was hiding something or not.

And Don knew that he was hiding something.

Mikey ran around a series of corners until he was sure that Don was safely out of earshot. Then, he got out his shell cell and called Betty. She answered after ten seconds or so. "Hey, Bettster, you know I said that I was gonna come get you at seven?"

"Yes."

"Do you think you could like, come over now? Please?" asked Mikey, putting on his pleading voice. He smiled as she answered.

It worked every time.

***

Don stamped back towards where his family were situated. He didn't know how long he had been waiting there. At first, he hadn't noticed the lack of Raphael. He had been too busy rummaging through the remains of his lab, trying to find some of his tools so that he could take apart some things. It would be easier to carry small pieces of technical equipment than one large washing machine sized lump. It was after he had found his dented box of tools that he realized he was alone and had been for quite a while. He waited, thinking that Raph would arrive there at any moment.

A moment is one of those vague measurements of time. It doesn't have a definite amount, so it can be a range of things.

However, saying that a moment was an hour was probably pushing it.

He had picked up his toolbox and departed. There were a lot of things he could have done with that hour. He could have made about six trips to the lair. He wasn't angry at Mikey. Irritated, maybe, but not angry. He decided to ask Mikey what had happened. Surely Mikey hadn't meant to leave him there for so long… right?

He remembered the strange behaviour his brother had had earlier.

He reached the wall of their new lair (if it could be called that. It wasn't exactly new) and pressed his hand against one of the bricks. It opened up, inviting him to enter the darkness contained within. The candle from the morning had gone out so that he couldn't really see anything. He stepped in cautiously. Suddenly he heard a scraping sound. Then, he saw a small ball of fire. The sounds and lights repeated until the room lit up. The candles that Mikey had brought back with him shone brightly, and Don could the box of matches in Betty's hands.

"Betty?" he blinked, looking at the unsurprised expressions on his family's faces. They must have planned this without him knowing.

He chuckled. That would explain why Mikey had made things go as slowly as possible.

"Don," she blinked, "Wow, it's been ages since I last saw you."

"It's only been a few weeks."

Splinter was on his feet. He put a hand onto Don's shoulder. "Michelangelo has prepared some snacks for us to eat."

"It won't like, be as good a party as yesterday's one… but it'll still be… uh… good," Mikey held out a bar of chocolate at Don, "Chocolate?"

Donnie accepted it, but he kept it in his hand. Betty stared at his belt, examining the knot far too closely to be marked as curiosity. She raised her eyes, "I'm… sorry."

"For what?"

"For… going like that," she hunched her shoulders, feeling very cold. "And… I… I didn't want to tell you… but… I'm…"

Mikey and Raph moved their hands in circles, gesturing for her to get to the point.

"While… I was in the hospital… I met someone," she cast her eyes downwards, not even being able to look at his torso. "And… I… wanted to give him a chance. I'm sorry. I just didn't think… I would be able to tell you. I was scared."

Mikey bit back his tongue. It appeared she had forgotten to tell him that part. If he had known, he probably would have thought twice before inviting her.

"Is he… nice?" asked Don calmly.

"Very."

"He isn't possessed by an evil alien by any chance, is he?"

Betty giggled, "I'm pretty sure he isn't."

"Good."

There was no more conversation.

A candle hit Don on the head, fortunately unlit. It slid off his head and landed on the palms of his hands. He checked what it was before jerking his head towards his youngest brother, "Mikey…"

"Oh sure, assume that _I _threw it," Mikey crossed his arms, pulling a face.

"Sorry, force of habit."

"Nah, I was kidding. It was me really."

Don groaned, "Are you going to willingly explain why you did that, or am I going to ask?"

"I was just trying to make conversation. Geez," Mikey told him. They never appreciated what he did for them.

Don ignored him and turned to Betty, "Anyway... I want to say... congratulations. I hope you two are very happy together."

Betty walked forwards and kissed Don lightly on the cheek, "I may have my special someone, but you'll always be my special turtle."

"We're in the room, you know," Mikey piped up. Raph hit him on the back of his head. "Ow… what'd I say?"

"Stupid things," replied Raph.

As they sat down to eat, chatting, Mikey looked at his complete family.

Don was telling them that he would set up the electricity here as soon as possible, when he wasn't spending time with his family.

Raph drank some soda, remarking how good it tasted and adding that he should drink it more often.

Leo sat with his family, telling Mikey to close his mouth while he ate, though he didn't sound like it bothered him that much.

It looked like Mikey's World was back to normal…

Well, as normal a world as a mutant turtle could have.

* * *

**I will make my thank yous and stuff in the next and final chapter. :]**


	28. C:C:C:Combo Breaker!

_Dear Raphael,_

_My son, you do not know how relieved we are to know that you are alright! Your brothers and I have been searching New York high and low for you. April and Casey have been asking around and your brothers were preparing a visit to the Foot Headquarters. April gave us your letter, saying that it had been with the rest of her mail. Needless to say, many things have been explained in your letter and we are pleased that you have written to us._

_You can imagine what happened once I opened the envelope and saw your name signed at the bottom of the letter. Your brothers had an argument about it, before deciding who got to read it after me in a duel._

_Leonardo acted as though he was disappointed and cross with you, but I assure you that he is really glad that you are alive and well. It was, after all, his idea to invade the Foot Headquarters to see if you were being held captive there. He also insists that he wasn't going to ask where you were (although the first question he asked was 'where he is?' upon seeing the letter), and he added that he never thought you were defeated because of your lack of skill and that you shouldn't assume such things._

_Donatello says that he has never heard of this 'Human Hybrid' you referred to in the previous letter, but he says that it is most likely an obscure name for an obscure occurrence. However, he says that it's given him something to research about and he'll get to work. Your brother, like the rest of your family, is very glad that you are safe and sound. He also wishes to inform you that Michelangelo, so far, has attempted to ride your shell cycle eight times in the past week, but he has stopped him because he knows that if you were there you would do the same._

_Michelangelo was very ecstatic to read your letter. He says that everyone is worrying too much about you; however he worries about you just as much as we do. I know that you have been gone for only a week, but that is a long time to have a family member missing for. Michelangelo wishes to know when you will return, and if he is allowed to 'let out' your room to someone (I can't imagine to who though. I think he just wants two rooms for himself!). In addition, he says that he wants to know what the last sentence in your letter is supposed to mean. I assure him that it means he should know how much you care about him, but he argues it could also mean that you don't._

_I am glad to know that you will be keeping up with your training and I hope that you will behave yourself there. Don't do anything that I would disapprove of, and make sure that you _**don't**_ start any fights._

_I hope that you are still well and that the teleporter is fixed soon. It has not been the same since you left._

_Your loving father,_

_Splinter Hamato_

_PS. You said you have lessons there. Do they include science and maths? If they do, I will be more than happy to assist you- Donnie_

_PPS. Don't do anything stupid, and remember everything Sensei taught you- Leo_

_PPPPPPPS. Raph, if you let me rent out your room I'll give you ten per cent of the profit. I bet I can get Usagi or someone to pay to stay in your room- Your favouritest brother ever, Mikey_

_

* * *

_**Here's a little snippet of the sequel to this. ;) I'll be uploading it… eventually. I've done about a third of it.**

**So this is the end. :( At first I thought I would hate writing this but as I wrote more and more I began to enjoy it. :) **

**Some things I should answer. Betty is from It's Within Us All but I described her enough in the prologue so you didn't have to read it. And Leo got captured when they escaped the lair.**

**Things that will be answered next time!**

**-Something from the end of It's Within Us All  
-The consequence of Karai's actions**

**Things like why Leo was in the pod and… anyway that will be answered in the far future. xD**

**THANK YOU THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO FAVOURITED AND REVIEWED AND ALERTED AND JUST PLAIN EXISTED! I'm really REALLY happy I managed to reach 100 reviews. Let's see if the next one can reach at least 101. Okay, for this story...  
**

**Super Awesome Favouriters!**

August08  
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**Mega Wicked Alerters!**

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**Various Other People Who Are Still Very Nifty!**

Polaris'05 (I hope you're writing something :P)  
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**Other People That I Like But I am Too Lazy To Look For Their Names But I Still Love Them Like… Stuff That Is Likeable**

You :D

**Now you can all go read the stories of the people I've listed. Or other people's fanfictions. Or you can go to work or school or eat some pizza. Or you can write your own. I'm off to torture Raph. Bye!!!**


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